On May 26, Senior Colonel Zhou Bo (ret.), senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy and a China Forum expert, gave an interview to BBC News on the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) latest joint drills surrounding the island of Taiwan, the positions of China and the US on Taiwan, and disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

The PLA’s operation, named Joint Sword-2024A, is a stern warning to Taiwan separatists, sais Zhou. Calling himself a “pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence,” Lai Ching-te has voiced the idea of Taiwanese independence more bluntly than his predecessors. He used the term “country” to refer to Taiwan, and his narratives such as “sovereign independence” and that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other” have violated the consensus reached by more than 180 countries on the one-China principle. The latest drills demonstrated the Chinese military’s determination to defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Beijing has confidence in the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and time is on its side, Zhou believes, urging that only based on the consensus on the one-China principle can the two sides engage in more dialogue. The US plays an important role in this issue, and that it needs to practice what it preaches, he added.

Regarding the China-Philippines disputes over the South China Sea, Zhou pointed out that the Philippines has taken many provocative actions and even shot Chinese fishermen, when China has never resorted to force. It was only forced to use water cannons as a minimum warning to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.