China says Taiwan is turning into a 'powder keg' and 'ammunition depot'

July 30 (UPI) -- Chinese officials on Saturday accused politicians in Taiwan of turning the self-governed island into a "powder keg" and "ammunition depot" with the support of the United States.

Chen Binhua, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement that members of Taiwan's nationalist Democratic Progressive Party are "stubbornly adhering" to the separatist stance of independence.

Taiwan is "constantly begging" the U.S. and to sell it weapons and provide military assistance while strengthening military ties, Binhua said.

"What they are doing is turning Taiwan into a powder keg and ammunition depot and aggravating the danger of war in the Taiwan Strait," Binhua said. The Taiwan Strait is a waterway that separates mainland China and Taiwan.

"If the DPP is allowed to go down this path, young people will only become cannon fodder," Binhua said.

Binhua added that China, officially the People's Republic of China, remains "firmly against" the United States providing weapons to what he called "China's Taiwan region."

"No matter how much tax money the DPP authorities and the separatist forces for Taiwan independence spend on the people of Taiwan and how many U.S. weapons they buy, they will not be able to shake our firm will to resolve the Taiwan issue and realize the complete reunification of the motherland," he said.

"And, they will not be able to withstand our strong strength to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Mainland China and the island of Taiwan, among other islands, were ruled by the Republic of China before the ROC lost the Chinese Civil War in the early 20th century to the Chinese Communist Party, which established the new government of the People's Republic of China in October 1949.

The ROC in turn established a temporary capital in Taipei on the island of Taiwan, a former Japanese territory, in December 1949 that served as the seat for China at the United Nations until it was replaced by the People's Republic of China in 1971 when foreign countries switched their diplomatic relations.

China views Taiwan and its 23 million residents as a wayward province and has vowed to retake it by force, if necessary. Many supporters of Taiwan have since argued that it is already an independent sovereign state separate from mainland China, which has never controlled Taiwan.

Last year, tensions between China and the United States over the Taiwan issue started to grow after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the wayward province sparking a military response from the Chinese government and increased drills in the Taiwan Strait.