Possible Taiwan takeover not ‘invasion’: Chinese envoy to Australia

ANKARA (AA) – The Chinese ambassador to Canberra has urged the Australian media to avoid calling Taiwan’s “possible takeover” an “invasion,” local media reported.

Speaking at National Press Club, Ambassador Xiao Qian said he would rather not use the word “invasion” when talking about China and Taiwan. Taiwan is different from any other scenario or situation.

“Taiwan is not an independent state. Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China,” Xiao said in his address aired by ABC News.

“The issue between China and Taiwan, which is an issue between a central government of the People’s Republic of China with a local government, it’s an issue of reunification, it’s an issue of coming back to the motherland,” he added.

China began military exercises last Thursday after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taipei after her visit last Wednesday.

The Chinese military also launched ballistic missiles around Taiwan, some of which fell in waters claimed by Japan to be its exclusive economic zone.

After Pelosi flew out of Taiwan, the PLA dispatched the largest number of military jets across the Taiwan Strait, with many entering the self-declared air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, which the two militaries across the Taiwan Strait avoid crossing.

Taiwan has also begun military drills in waters near the media line, an imaginary boundary that the fleets of mainland China and the island avoid crossing.