China: Those who support Taiwan's independence will get burned

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday warned other countries not to interfere in Beijing's dispute with Taiwan.

Those supporting Taiwan's independence will "get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing," Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual rubber-stamp National People's Congress in Beijing.

"We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland," Wang said.

The minister described the recent parliamentary and presidential elections in Taiwan in mid-January as "just local elections in one part of China. The result does not change even in the slightest terms the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China."

The ruling Communist Party in Beijing counts Taiwan as Chinese territory, although the island with more than 23 million inhabitants has had an independent government since 1949.

Taiwan's recent election was won by Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Lai is due to be inaugurated on May 20, replacing President Tsai Ing-wen, who has held office for two terms.

"Certain countries that still insist on maintaining official relations with Taiwan are just interfering with China's internal affairs," Wang said.

The island's most important ally is the United States. The US is legally bound to support Taiwan's defence capabilities due to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which marks its 45th anniversary this year.

The situation in the Taiwan Strait is tense, and China regularly demonstrates its military might there.