ISTANBUL

China on Monday rejected Taiwan's claims of the existence of a "median line" in the Taiwan Strait, reasserting that Taiwan is an integral part of China.

“Taiwan is a part of China and there is no such thing as a ‘median line’ of the Taiwan Straits,” Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin told a news conference.

This statement followed Taiwan's criticism of China's recent activation of the W121 connector of the M503 air route. Taipei contends that this move diminishes Taiwan's air defense capabilities and reduces its warning time.

Officials of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have called China's action an attempt to eliminate the "median line," saying it constitutes a "military threat" to Taiwan.

“The DPP authorities, for their own party interests, are using this to hype the so-called ‘military threat from the mainland,’ attempting to create security anxiety, heighten confrontation, and obstruct cross-Straits exchanges, which is unpopular and will not succeed,” Jiang added, according to a transcript on the ministry website.

He accused the DPP of causing the current tension by collaborating with "external forces" to pursue independence, urging the Taiwanese people to firmly oppose secessionist activities.

In a separate statement, Jiang condemned Taiwan's establishment of a new military unit equipped with the US-supplied HIMARS artillery system. He accused the DPP of “using the hard-earned money of the people in Taiwan to pay protection fees to the US,” saying it “fawns on the US.”

According to the Taipei Times, the Taiwanese military inaugurated its first HIMARS unit on July 4 as part of the army's 58th Artillery Command.