A white paper on national defense released by the State Council singled out “separatist” threats from Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang. From the New York Times:
The 105-page paper sought to portray China as a power that would use military force only defensively and sees territorial integrity as the top defense priority.
According to goals implied in the paper, China also seeks to counterbalance the American military presence in Asia. In several instances, the authors pointed out what they called worrisome aspects of American intervention.
[…] Certain destabilizing factors outside China are growing, the paper added, singling out American arms sales to Taiwan, which could lead to “serious harm to Sino-U.S. relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” China considers Taiwan a breakaway province.
[…] The white paper grouped separatist forces in Taiwan — meaning supporters of Mr. Chen and his policies — with groups that China says are seeking independence for Tibet and Xinjiang. “Separatist forces working for ‘Taiwan independence,’ ‘East Turkestan independence’ and ‘Tibet independence’ pose threats to China’s unity and security,” the paper said.
The full text of the white paper is here.
