No one and no force should be allowed to engage in provocations or stir up trouble on the Taiwan question, which lies at the very heart of China's core interests and represents a red line that must not be crossed, a Chinese mainland spokeswoman said on Wednesday in Beijing.
Zhang Han, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the comments at a regular press conference in response to a media query concerning Japan calling China's countermeasures against Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya's egregious acts related to Taiwan as "regrettable".
"I want to stress once again that the Taiwan question is at the very heart of China's core interests and represents a red line that must not be crossed. Keiji Furuya's overt interference in China's internal affairs over the Taiwan question constitutes a serious infringement on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The countermeasures China has taken in response are entirely reasonable and lawful. Japan, for its part, should make deep reflection on its history of aggression, draw lessons from the past, earnestly correct its course, abide by the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and must not allow any individual or any force to engage in provocations or cause trouble on the Taiwan question," she said.
No provocation on Taiwan question to be tolerated: spokeswoman
Russia reported on Tuesday that its forces took control of a settlement in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, while Ukraine on the same day claimed that it was working to thwart Russian attempts to advance deeper into Ukrainian territory and had inflicted significant losses on Russian forces.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its daily report that over the past day, its troops had struck energy and transportation infrastructure used by Ukrainian forces, drone launch and storage sites, as well as temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries across 158 locations.
Also according to the ministry, Russia's air defense systems shot down nine guided aerial bombs and 384 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian forces captured a settlement in the Sumy region.
On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Ukrainian forces engaged in a total of 140 battles with Russian troops over the past day. Ukrainian troops are holding back Russian attempts to advance deeper into Ukrainian territory and have inflicted significant manpower and equipment losses on Russian forces across multiple sectors.
It claimed that Ukraine's air force, missile units, and artillery had struck two Russian personnel concentration areas and a drone control point, and shot down over 2,000 drones.
Russia claims settlement capture, Ukraine reports halting Russian advances
