US President Joe Biden has warned Beijing against what he calls ‘flirting with danger’, a day after an audio clip of top Chinese military officials was purportedly heard discussing the Taiwan invasion.
Biden is currently in Tokyo ahead of Tuesday’s Quad summit, where addressing a media conference he said that his country would defend Taiwan militarily if China invaded the self-ruling island.
“That’s the commitment we made. We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it… but the idea that it can be taken by force is just not appropriate,” Biden said.
China-born human rights activist, Jennifer Zeng, tweeted a viral audio clip that has created ripples in Beijing. The 57-minute leaked clip posted by a YouTube channel LUDE media is the first ever recording of a Chinese military brass huddle in the country’s history.
The recording was said to have been leaked by senior officials of Communist Party of China who want to expose Xi Jinping’s military plan on Taiwan. The audio clip features purported conversations between the CPC and the PLA on implementing the roadmap of the ‘normal to war transition’ plan by the top leadership.
There is a possibility that the audio has been sourced through Taiwan. It still remains unverified and
security agencies all over the world are examining its contents, although the audio of the meeting reflects presentations normally made in China. The audio clip suggests that among those present at the high-level meeting include Guangdong’s party secretary, deputy secretary, governor and the vice governor.
The audio clip most importantly discussed ‘smashing Taiwan independence forces and not hesitating to start a war, resolutely defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity’, a major strategic decision of Chinese president Xi Jinping. During the meeting, it was recommended opening a joint civilian-military command, plan-deploy-organise the province’s normal to war transition.
The officials are heard discussing that four companies viz Zhuhai Orbita, Shenzhen Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Co., Foshan Deliya and Ji Hua Laboratory formed four satellite detachments.
According to the clip, the task given to the Guangdong province by the eastern and southern warzones pertains to 20 categories and 239 materials. It includes 1.40 lakh military personnel, 953 ships, 1,653 units of unmanned equipment, 20 airports and docks, six repair and shipbuilding yards, 14 emergency transfer centres, and resources such as grain depots, hospitals, blood stations, oil depots, gas stations, etc.
The audio clip further claims that the officials emphasised on maintaining the safety of Pearl River Delta area (includes Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Hong Kong and Macau etc) because it highlights it is densely populated, with a lot of industries.
