Dangerous course plotted by Washington

Samuel Paparo, head of the US "Indo-Pacific" Command, warned of "a profoundly consequential time", claiming that "China is on a dangerous course" on the Taiwan question at an expo hosted by a US think tank in Washington on Monday.

"Their aggressive manoeuvres around Taiwan are not just exercises. They are rehearsals," he said, referring to the Chinese mainland's justified and legitimate military exercises around the island, which is an inalienable part of China.

But as a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US said on Monday, when it comes to the situation in the Taiwan Strait, there is nothing more unstable than the provocations of the "Taiwan independence" separatists and the interference of external forces.