A senior mainland official warned on Thursday that any external force that interferes in the Taiwan Strait "will only court its own destruction".

Speaking at a cross-Strait compatriots exchange event in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people alone and "brooks no interference" from outside powers such as Japan.

Any external force that dares to provoke, he warned, "will only court its own destruction".

Song was responding to recent remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. During a Nov 7 address to the Diet, Japan's legislature, Takaichi claimed that a Taiwan emergency involving the use of mainland military vessels or force could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan. Under relevant legislation, Japan's Self-Defense Forces may exercise the right of collective self-defense if such a situation is recognized as survival-threatening.

Her comments have drawn strong condemnation from Beijing, which has urged her to retract them.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, conveyed his remarks in a congratulatory letter to the event. He said the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) demonstrates that a strong, united country is the foundation of the shared destiny of all Chinese people, including those in Taiwan.

"We will fully implement the Party's overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, firmly counter 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces, and oppose external interference," Wang said.

Among the Taiwan representatives, Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang, reviewed Japan's colonization of Taiwan, lamenting that history continues to be distorted. She said in just the first 20 years of that colonial period, more than 400,000 people were massacred by the Japanese, and indigenous communities suffered "inhumane destruction".

Hung warned that if people do not support national reunification and rejuvenation, and instead allow "Taiwan independence" forces to act as pawns of external powers, "we will repeat the mistakes in history and push Taiwan to the brink of war".

She called on Taiwan compatriots to remember history, saying the "hard-won progress must be cherished" and the homeland must not be torn apart or manipulated by outside forces.

As this year marks the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration to China and the establishment of the national commemoration day for that restoration, Chi Chia-lin, honorary chairman of Taiwan's Reunification Alliance Party, said, "We will never allow what happened 130 years ago to happen again." The island was separated from the mainland and subjected to Japanese colonization in 1895. It was restored 50 years later.

Taiwan representatives called for safeguarding the homeland from external interference, saying history shows that reunification brings peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait, while separatism and foreign intervention lead only to conflict.

The sentiment was echoed by Taiwan youth representative Chang Chun-kai, who said, "We must firmly oppose the Democratic Progressive Party authorities and 'Taiwan independence' forces who seek to divide the country, and resolutely oppose interference in the Taiwan Strait by external forces such as Japanese right-wing forces."

The event, jointly hosted by the mainland-based Cross-Straits Relations Research Center and Taiwan patriotic groups supporting reunification, offered participants an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the victory in the war of resistance and Taiwan's restoration, while discussing prospects for peaceful reunification.

Sichuan is among the mainland provinces with the closest exchanges and most active interactions with Taiwan, according to Wang Xiaohui, secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee. This year marked the fifth edition of the event held in the province.

lishangyi@chinadaily.com.cn