Zhu Fenglian Photo: Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council

Asked to comment on former UK prime minister Boris Johnson's referring to Taiwan as a "country" during a recent event in Taipei and calling Western countries to build economic and political relations with the island, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that Taiwan is part of China and has never been a country.

The DPP authorities, out of selfish interests, have squandered the hard-earned money of people on the island to buy off certain outdated politicians and stage one farcical act after another of achieving "Taiwan independence" by seeking foreign support in an attempt to create a false impression of "international presence," Zhu said.

Lies, no matter how many times repeated, will never become truth. No matter how loudly the DPP authorities and external forces clamor and bluff, Zhu stressed, they cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor can they shake the prevailing consensus of the international community on upholding the one-China principle.

Global Times