The Chinese mainland said on Wednesday that the true intention of the United States is to destroy Taiwan for its own interests, after a top US admiral claimed that the US plans to turn the Taiwan Strait into "hellscape" if the mainland "invades" the island.

The US plans to deploy thousands of drones in the Taiwan Strait in an operation called "Hellscape" to ensure that any attempt by the mainland to "invade" Taiwan does not succeed, US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral Samuel Paparo told The Washington Post recently.

Paparo was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the recent Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum in Singapore that the "Hellscape" strategy would involve deploying thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy Washington and its partners time to assemble a response.

Urging the US to stop interfering in the Taiwan question, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair and it does not tolerate any external interference.

She criticized anti-China forces in the US for hyping up the so-called plan to destroy Taiwan in the past and for now promoting turning the Taiwan Strait into a "hell", saying the acts sent a highly dangerous signal, exposing the true intention of the US to destroy Taiwan at all costs for its own interests.

Zhu urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, calling for an end to sending any wrong signals to the separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence".

She condemned the Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan for serving as pawns for external forces seeking to use Taiwan to contain the mainland, warning that they are leading Taiwan into a dangerous situation.

"The attempts to seek 'independence' by relying on the US or through military means are a dead end that will only bring grave danger to Taiwan's people," she added.

Zhu also condemned the recent decision by the US to sell approximately $360 million worth of arms to Taiwan, saying that the repeated arms sales by the US are aimed at directing the flames of war toward Taiwan, showing malicious intent.

She called on the DPP authorities to immediately cease actions that harm the vital interests of the people of Taiwan and to stop activities that jeopardize peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

zhangyi1@chinadaily.com.cn

?