The Chinese Foreign Ministry warned America on Tuesday it would “welcome with shotguns” and “jackals” anyone seeking to support Taiwan. The threat came a day after President Joe Biden claimed America had a “commitment” to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion and less than a month after a man opened fire on a Taiwanese church group in California, allegedly driven by Chinese nationalist “hate.”
The Chinese Communist Party has taken no responsibility for the alleged actions of David Chou (Chou Wenwei), a naturalized American born and raised in Taiwan who is facing the death penalty for a mass shooting in Laguna Woods, California, that left one man dead and five people between the ages of 66 and 92 injured. Prior to the shooting, Chou had attended a meeting of an umbrella organization tied to a Chinese government “foreign mission” in 2019, holding up a banner condemning Taiwanese “demons.”
More recently, he reportedly sent a manifesto titled “Diary of an Independence-Destroying Angel” to a Chinese-language newspaper shortly before the mass shooting.
Chinese government officials consistently use violent rhetoric to condemn the existence of Taiwan as a sovereign state. Chinese dictator Xi Jinping promised in 2019, the same year Chou attended the anti-Taiwan event, that anyone supporting Taiwanese sovereignty would have their “bones ground to powder.”
Continuing the trend on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin appeared to threaten to attack the United States in response to Biden defending Taiwanese sovereignty on Monday.
“I want to remind the US side that no forces, the US included, can hold back the Chinese people’s endeavor to reunify the nation. Also, no forces, the US included, can change the fate of the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces who are doomed to fail,” Wang told reporters. “If the US continues to go down the wrong path, there will be irretrievable consequences for the China-US relations and the US will have to pay unbearable price [sic].”
This photo taken on January 4, 2021 shows Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers taking part in military training at Pamir Mountains in Kashgar, northwestern China’s Xinjiang region. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Wang concluded, “I’d like to advise the US to listen to a well-known Chinese song with these lyrics: ‘For our friends, we have fine wine. For jackals or wolves, we welcome with shotguns.'”
Biden outraged the Communist Party with remarks on Monday claiming that he was willing to commit American military forces to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion because “that’s the commitment we made.” The White House almost immediately walked back Biden’s comments, noting that policies with Taiwan have not changed, and Biden appeared to refuse to answer questions about it on Tuesday.
Asked if “the policy of strategic ambiguity” – not recognizing Taiwan as a state, but sending it weapons and funding – was “dead,” Biden simply replied “no … the policy has not changed at all.”
Taiwan is a sovereign state with no bureaucratic, political, or military ties to China. Taiwan has never been governed by a regime headquartered in Beijing. America does not recognize Taiwan as a state, however, because President Jimmy Carter chose instead to establish diplomatic ties to China. China demands all of its diplomatic partners ignore Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Wang initially responded to Biden’s remarks on Monday by insisting China “has no room for compromise or concession” to refusing to acknowledge Taiwan’s sovereignty. China falsely claims Taiwan as a province.
“No one should underestimate the strong resolve, determination and capability of the Chinese people in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. No one should stand in opposition to the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” Wang said.
The Global Times, a state-run propaganda newspaper, similarly declared on Monday not that supporters of Taiwanese sovereignty would have to count on an attack by the Chinese state, but by the loosely defined “Chinese people.”
“Experts said that no matter whether it adopts ‘strategic ambiguity’ or ‘strategic clarity,’ Chinese people’s determination of solving the Taiwan question won’t be affected, and will stick to the original pace,” the Global Times proclaimed.
This photo taken on October 21, 2020 shows a mural painted on a wall on Taiwan’s Kinmen islands, which lie just 3.2 kms (two miles) from the mainland China coast (in background) in the Taiwan Strait. The tank traps on the beaches of Kinmen Island are a stark reminder that Taiwan lives under the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. (SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
In response to Chou, a Chinese nationalist, being charged with the Laguna Woods shooting, the Global Times insisted a week ago that Chou was “an American citizen,” not part of the fearsome millions constituting the “Chinese people.” The Times also seemed to deny that Taiwanese citizens were Chinese, noting Chou was born in Taiwan – an apparent nod to Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office charged Chou with “one felony count of murder, five felony counts of premeditated attempted murder, four felony counts of possession of an explosive device, and felony enhancements of lying in wait and personal discharge of a firearm causing death.” Law enforcement officials initially said materials in his car indicated Chou was “upset” about Taiwan’s relationship with China.
Last week, editors of the World Journal, a Chinese-language publication, published photos of a massive, seven-volume manifesto sent to them allegedly by Chou titled “Diary of an Independence-Destroying Angel.” An attorney for the publication told the South China Morning Post that no one had yet read the volume, instead immediately contacting law enforcement upon its arrival. The article arrived at the offices of the newspaper on May 17, after the shooting and his arrest.
Law enforcement authorities have since indicated that the Laguna Woods shooting was a “hate” crime against Taiwanese people.
The Chinese government has not shown any signs of concern regarding the activities of its National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU), a government-run set of organizations promoting the destruction of the Taiwanese state. Chou had attended a meeting of a local Las Vegas branch of a NACPU group in 2019, holding up a banner reading “eradication of pro-independence demons.”
The head of the local NACPU branch claimed that she found Chou too “extreme” for the group and that he eventually stopped attending events.
The Chinese government almost immediately resumed its violent rhetoric against Taiwan in the aftermath of the shooting.
“The US has been adopting wrongful narratives and actions that interfere with China’s domestic politics and are harmful to China’s interests. China has been making stern and powerful responses,” senior Politburo member Yang Jiechi scolded U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan last week. “If the US continues to play the ‘Taiwan card’ and head further on the wrong path, this will certainly lead to dangerous situations.”