Taiwan will never be a country: defense spokesperson

BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan will never be a country, and no separatist activities seeking "Taiwan independence" or attempts by foreign forces to split China will ever succeed, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday.

The elections in the Taiwan region were the affairs of a region in China, spokesperson Wu Qian said at a press conference.

"No matter how the situation changes in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China, and that Taiwan is a part of China, will not change," he said.

Noting that China's sovereignty and territory have never been severed, Wu said that neither the fact that Taiwan is a part of China's territory nor its legal status as a part of that territory have ever changed.

He said that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will always be an iron great wall defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Wu also confirmed that the PLA Eastern Theater Command had launched joint sea and air patrols around Taiwan Island, aimed at stepping up combat readiness and enhancing the armed forces' ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The PLA will continue launching relevant military operations on a regular basis, he said.