MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and will never become a sovereign state, Liu Xiaoming, Beijing’s special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, said in an interview with TASS.
Forces seeking independence for Taiwan have lately colluded with external forces, the senior Chinese diplomat said. "They have conducted a number of provocations that threaten stability in the Taiwan Strait and the One China principle," he said, referring to the visit of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as well as the visit by Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen to the United States.
"From time immemorial, Taiwan has been an integral part of China; it has never been a sovereign state and it will never become one," the envoy emphasized.
Liu reiterated that a peaceful reunification of the two shores of the Taiwan Strait was "the common aspiration of the Chinese people and an important component of the nation’s revival." "We are ready to display maximum sincerity and exert utmost efforts toward achieving a peaceful reunification," he assured the TASS reporter.
He also said that Chinese compatriots on Taiwan would hopefully join together to make a joint contribution to what he said would be the great revival of the Chinese nation.
"You know that Mr. [Chinese statesman] Deng Xiaoping formulated that policy exactly with the aim of resolving the Taiwan issue, and over time we resolved the issues of Xianggang and Aomen (the Chinese names for Hong Kong and Macau - TASS), and the One Country, Two Systems principle proved its effectiveness precisely in Xianggang and Aomen, and therefore we have confidence that this policy will be a success in Taiwan, too," Liu concluded.