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China preserves right to take all necessary measures on Taiwan - Xi Jinping

Tensions escalated in the region following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on August 2-3

BEIJING, October 16. /TASS/. The Chinese authorities reserve the right to take all necessary measures on the Taiwan issue, which will be targeted at foreign interference and separatists, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Sunday.

"We will reserve the option of taking all the necessary measures, which will be directed against interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking ‘Taiwan independence,’ as well as against separatist activities," he pointed out. Xi Jinping emphasized that those measures would by no means be "targeted at our Taiwan compatriots."

Tensions escalated in the region following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on August 2-3. The next day, China's People’s Liberation Army launched large-scale military drills in six areas around Taiwan. Several more US delegations visited the island later. Beijing views such trips as provocations and interference in its domestic affairs as it considers Taiwan to be an integral part of China.

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