BEIJING, August 15. /TASS/. China's army will put an end to outside forces’ plans to interfere in China's domestic political affairs and will also foil separatists’ attempts to break away from Taiwan, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Monday, commenting on the visit of a US Congress delegation to the island.

"The People's Liberation Army of China will continue to conduct drills to prepare for combat operations, we will resolutely defend our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the spokesman said in a distributed statement, "We will crush Taiwanese separatists by all means and foil all foreign forces’ attempts to interfere."

A US Congress delegation led by Senator Ed Markey (a member of Democratic party, Massachusetts) arrived on Sunday evening for a two-day visit to Taiwan. According to the island's foreign ministry, the delegation included five politicians from the Democratic and Republican parties.

The Chinese government has repeatedly stated that Pelosi's trip to Taipei on August 2 and 3 was a provocation that should be seen as "the wrong signal to Taiwan separatists." A day after that visit, Beijing authorities imposed sanctions on the House Speaker and her family, and froze several bilateral intergovernmental mechanisms for interaction with Washington.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then it retains the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China, which existed on the mainland before the Communists came to power. According to China’s official position, supported by most countries, including Russia, the island is one of the Chinese provinces.