By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA) - China said Wednesday it is “willing to create broad space for peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, two days after US President Donald Trump said Beijing “does not” intend to take the island by force.
Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Beijing "is willing to create broad space for peaceful reunification and will make our utmost efforts and show the greatest sincerity to strive for this prospect."
“However, we will never leave any room for any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities,” she said, according to the state-run Global Times.
Trump, answering questions Monday about China’s intentions, said: “I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that... And I don’t see that at all with (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping)... But I don’t see anything happening.”
“I think we’re going to get along very well as it pertains to Taiwan and others,” he added.
Zhu reiterated Beijing’s long-standing position that Taiwan is “China’s internal affair and must be resolved by the Chinese people themselves.”
She said Beijing will invite “Taiwan compatriots” to an event on Oct. 25 marking the 80th anniversary of what it calls “Taiwan’s restoration to China.”
The spokeswoman also repeated China’s opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan: “We have always, clearly and resolutely opposed US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region.”
She accused “some people” in the US of using Taiwan as a “pawn” for political and economic gain and urged Washington to abide by the “one-China” principle.