The spokesperson of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Thursday issued a statement on the meeting between Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen and Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The following is the full text of the statement:

Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the former's so-called "transit" through the United States. This is another provocative move from Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities to further collude with the United States and "cling to U.S. support to seek independence." We express our strong condemnation, will take resolute measures to punish separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence" and their behavior, and will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

For some time, the DPP authorities have misjudged the situation, thinking that strategic competition between China and the United States provides opportunities for "clinging to U.S. support to seek independence," and have unscrupulously ganged up with external forces. They are under the illusion that, by clutching to the United States, they can be even more utterly brazen in their provocative attempt to seek "independence" and betray the interests of the Chinese nation. Tsai's "transit" is nothing more than a cover for the schemes of seeking "independence."

Realizing China's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation as well as an essential part of national rejuvenation. China must be and will surely be reunified. How can the separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence" stop the rolling wheel of history? Tsai and the DPP authorities, out of the DPP's selfish motives, have entrenched themselves in the erroneous position of "Taiwan independence," and served as a tool for anti-China forces in the United States to contain China. However, their actions can never change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, and will only push Taiwan to the brink of war and bring great suffering to the Taiwan compatriots.

There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China. The one-China principle is a universally recognized norm of international relations and a consensus accepted by the international community. Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people and China's internal affair, and brooks no external interference. The U.S. side continuously obscures and hollows out the one-China principle, and severely violates its serious political commitment it has made in the three China-U.S. joint communiques. It also repeats wrong acts and remarks regarding the Taiwan question, and sends seriously wrong signals to forces seeking "Taiwan independence." However, whatever actions taken by anti-China forces in the United States to "use Taiwan to contain China" or "contain China by supporting Taiwan" will not stop the historical process of China's reunification.

We urge the DPP authorities to completely give up the separatist schemes seeking "Taiwan independence" and stop going further down on the doomed path of "clinging to U.S. support to seek independence" to the point of no return. Any activity seeking "Taiwan independence" will be smashed by the mighty anti-secession and pro-reunification forces of the Chinese people.

(Cover: The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, China. /Xinhua)