Mainland says judicial penalties on separatists legitimate, reasonable

BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday that criminal punishments imposed on diehard "Taiwan independence" separatists for conducting or inciting secession was a legitimate and reasonable action.

Only by severely punishing the crimes committed by "Taiwan independence" separatists in accordance with the law can peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait be maintained and the interests and well-being of people in Taiwan be safeguarded, said Zhu Fenglian, the spokesperson, at a press conference.

When commenting on criticism from the U.S. Department of State spokesperson on this matter, Zhu said that the United States had no right to meddle in China's internal affairs and make unfounded remarks.

She urged the U.S. to take concrete actions to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques and honor its commitment not to support "Taiwan independence."

Zhu also expressed strong opposition against a recent decision by the U.S. government to sell arms worth around 360 million U.S. dollars to Taiwan.

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities, driven by their own political interests, are using the hard-earned money of people in Taiwan to buy weapons, attempting to seek independence by U.S. support and by force, which will only bring disasters to the region and its people, she said.

Repeated U.S. arms sales to Taiwan will ignite conflict and push the island to the brink of war, she added.