By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA) – Taiwan is China’s "internal affairs," Beijing said on Monday in response to comments made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Taiwan is China’s internal affair and a matter of China’s sovereignty," said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Chinese public broadcaster CGTN reported.
Rejecting any parallel between Taiwan and Ukraine, Wang said the Taiwan question is totally different from the Ukrainian issue.
In reply to a question on Taiwan at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, Zelenskyy had said: "Today’s example of Ukraine is the example for the whole world. The world must always support any action which is related to preemptive measures to forestall violence."
"No one benefits from (war) apart from certain political leaders who are not content with their present level of ambitions," Zelenskyy told the high-level security forum via video.
China considers Taiwan as its "breakaway" province but Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949.
Zelenskyy stressed that the diplomatic resolution must be preemptive and not one that “comes after the war has started.”