BEIJING – The People's Liberation Army will continue its actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity unwaveringly if "Taiwan independence" elements do not stop their provocations, a mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said this at a press conference, noting that the PLA military drills around Taiwan Island, code-named Joint Sword-2024A, serve as a resolute punishment of the provocative statements by the leader of the Taiwan region.

READ MORE: Beijing: Drills are in response to Taiwan separatists' provocation

These drills are also a stern warning to external forces that support "Taiwan independence" and interfere in China's internal affairs, as well as a just act to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, she said.

The DPP authorities are clearly war instigators, contrary to their self-proclaimed role as "pilots for peace", said the spokesperson

Stressing that the mainland will never tolerate nor leave any room for activities seeking "Taiwan independence", she said all relevant countermeasures are aimed at separatist activities and external interference, not the compatriots of Taiwan.

She urged Taiwan compatriots to firmly stand on the right side of history, join hands with people on the mainland to oppose "Taiwan independence" and external interference and work together for a bright future of national reunification and rejuvenation.  

Collusion with US

Commenting on the US Department of State spokesperson's remarks on the debut speech of Taiwan's new leader on May 20, Zhu denounced the collusion between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan and external forces including the United States.

The speech was full of lies and deceit and utilized a patchwork of information to distort history, fully revealing his "Taiwan independence" nature, she said.  

Although the two sides of the Strait have not yet reunified, both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China, she said, adding: "It is a historical and legal fact that has never changed and can not be changed.”

Describing Lai Ching-te's debut speech as an out-and-out declaration of "Taiwan independence," she said the DPP authorities and external forces including the US were performing a duet that calls white black.

If the US side truly hopes for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, it should abide by the one-China principle and its commitments with China to oppose "Taiwan independence" with concrete action, she said.

READ MORE: US should stop interfering in Taiwan question

Whatever the US and the Taiwan region do will not alter the fact that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, and neither can they change the irreversible trend of national reunification, the spokesperson added.

'Instigators of war'

During the press conference, Zhu said the DPP authorities are clearly war instigators, contrary to their self-proclaimed role as "pilots for peace".

The DPP authorities claim to desire peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, but in reality, they adhere to a "Taiwan independence" stance, incite cross-Strait confrontation, and advance their goal by increasingly banking on external forces and through military means, in an attempt to split Taiwan from China, she said.

If the US truly hopes for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, it should abide by the one-China principle and its commitments with China to oppose "Taiwan independence" with concrete action, said Zhu

This can in no way be considered the behavior of so-called pilots for peace, said Zhu. "Rather, this is clearly the behavior of instigators of war.”

Lai Ching-te portrayed the DPP-ruled Taiwan as a pilot for peace, claiming to maintain the status quo across the Strait in his speech, said Zhu, slamming him and his ilk for using Taiwan's misery of being colonized by the Netherlands as a tool to promote "Taiwan independence".

Zhu referred to Lai's speech where he mentioned Chiang Wei-shui's description of Taiwan in 1921 as "a frontline guardian of world peace" and said that "the city of Tainan marked Taiwan's links to globalization in 1624," the year when the Netherlands started its 38-year colonial rule over Taiwan.

"They not only failed their ancestors but also betrayed the Chinese nation," she said.

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Calling Chiang a leader of the anti-colonialism movement during the period when Japan exercised colonial rule over Taiwan, the spokesperson said the purpose of Chiang was to resist Japanese colonial rule and fight for the freedom of the Chinese nation. Chiang also said that the Taiwanese are clearly Chinese.

With the purpose of whitewashing the vicious motives of soliciting external support for their independence agenda, the manipulation of Chiang's words by people like Lai is a betrayal of the spirit of the Chinese nation and disrespectful to Chiang, said Zhu.