BEIJING - A Chinese mainland spokesperson warned on Wednesday that the crazier the "Taiwan independence" moves, the tighter the anti-secession noose.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to a media inquiry about the two individuals newly added to its list of die-hard "Taiwan independence" secessionists.

"Taiwan is China's Taiwan," Zhu reiterated, noting that those seeking "Taiwan independence" and undermining cross-Strait relations will be punished by all necessary measures and held accountable for life in accordance with the law.

The 17 strategies rolled out by Lai Ching-te, leader of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, and designed to counter so-called threats from the mainland, completely run counter to the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan, which favors peace, development, exchanges, and cooperation, the spokesperson said.

The recent moves by the DPP authorities are sinister in intent, aimed at further creating a climate of "green terror" and seeking "Taiwan independence," Zhu said, adding that these despicable acts are bound to be opposed and doomed to fail.

Responding to another inquiry on Lai's slander on the mainland, the spokesperson said that attacking and smearing the mainland and playing up cross-Strait confrontation is a usual trick used by the DPP ahead of every election on the island to seek political self-interest.

Such malicious intentions cannot deceive the Taiwan people and will inevitably be despised by them, she added.  

Pleasing external forces

At the same press conference, Zhu also criticized DPP authorities for showing no resistance when confronted with overt bullying and exploitation by external forces, but instead moving to accommodate those forces.

According to a report, Taiwan and the United States are nearing a trade agreement to reduce Taiwan's tariff rate to 15 percent, while committing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to building at least five more facilities in the United States.

The report has sparked concerns that the DPP is trading investment for tariff favors.

The so-called agreement amounts to economic exploitation of Taiwan by the United States through high tariffs, aimed at siphoning off the island's industrial strength, Zhu told reporters.

It reveals not only the self-interested nature of the United States, but also Washington's underlying intention of viewing Taiwan as a strategic pawn, she added.

READ MORE: Mainland: Resolving Taiwan question brooks no external interference

The DPP authorities demonstrated no resistance. Instead, they offered Taiwan's core technological strengths as a bargaining chip to gain favor, Zhu said.

Noting that the DPP authorities had effectively surrendered before tariff negotiations even started, making ever greater concessions, Zhu argued that such an approach will only undermine Taiwan's economic prospects and damage the long-term interests of its people.

Vowing to safeguard national sovereignty

In response to US President Donald Trump's latest remarks regarding Taiwan in an interview with the New York Times, Zhu said the Taiwan question belongs to China's internal affairs, and its resolution is a matter for the Chinese people alone, said a mainland spokesperson on Wednesday.

"There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China," Zhu said, vowing to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

Concerning recent comments by US media on America's raid on Venezuela and forcible seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and these actions' implications for Taiwan, she reiterated that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair.

Resolving the Taiwan question is the Chinese people's own business and is a just cause for safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhu stressed.

"Outsiders are unreliable," the spokesperson said, noting that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities' attempts to seek "Taiwan independence" by relying on external forces will only turn them into discarded tools of external forces.