BEIJING, August 17. /TASS/. China does not have a clear timetable for Taiwan's reunification, but under the influence of external factors, this process can be accelerated, China’s Ambassador to Norway, Yi Xianliang, said in an interview with NRK TV broadcaster, published by the Chinese embassy on Tuesday.

"We have never had a timetable for this. But we cannot afford to let the current situation last forever. If the Americans, outside forces and separatists on the island take more provocative actions, the reunification time will shorten, [and it will happen] not in 2049 (the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China - TASS), but maybe even tomorrow," Yi said.

He recalled that Beijing had legal grounds for this. In 2005, China passed a law on the work for ending the split of the state. Yi stressed that China reserved the right to move away from the idea of peaceful reunification in favor of a military solution.

"The non-peaceful way does not necessarily mean the use of the entire complex of military measures. There are other countries that have demonstrated similar examples of reunification," Yi added.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait region soared after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on August 2-3 visited the island. The Chinese armed forces responded by conducting large-scale drills, including live rocket launches in six zones around the island, as well as a series of exercises around Taiwan.

The island has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces under Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after being defeated in the Chinese civil war. Taipei has since retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China, which had existed on the mainland before the Communists came to power. According Beijing’s official position, supported by most countries, including Russia, it is one of China’s provinces.