On Taiwan's military threat claim, China says: ‘This is electoral playbook'

China-Taiwan Conflict: Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said Taiwan's government was to blame for the tensions and not Beijing.

China accused Taiwan of deliberately "hyping up" a military threat from Beijing for electoral gain ahead of elections on the island. Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary election will be conducted on January 13 amid ramped up pressure from Beijing that denies the island's sovereignty claims. Ahead of elections, Taiwan has been reporting Chinese fighter jets and warships around the island and balloons crossing the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

China-Taiwan Conflict: A Chinook helicopter carrying a Taiwan flag flies over the city during the country's National Day celebration in Taipei, Taiwan.(Reuters)

What Beijing said on Taiwan?

Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said Taiwan's government was to blame for the tensions and not Beijing.

"The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are deliberately hyping up the so-called 'military threat from the mainland' and exaggerating tensions," Wu Qian said, adding, “This is entirely to seek electoral gain.”

Taiwan is using a “familiar electoral playbook to stoke confrontation and manipulate the election,” the spokesperson said.

China's People's Liberation Army was well aware of Taiwan's military movements and "we will, as always, take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he asserted.

China has also been angered by US arms sales to Taiwan as it said, "We firmly oppose any country having official and military contact with Taiwan in any form. The United States is manipulating the Taiwan question in various forms, which is a very dangerous gamble.”

What Xi Jinping said on Taiwan?

China's president Xi Jinping said the "reunification" of Taiwan with China is “inevitable.” Speaking at the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping said, “The realisation of the complete reunification with the motherland is an inevitable course of development, is righteous and what the people want. The motherland must and will be reunified.”