Beijing will not allow any "Taiwan independence" secessionist to split China, An Fengshan, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday.The comment came against the backdrop of recent visits to Taiwan by two officials from the United States after US President Donald Trump signed a bill called the Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages reciprocal visits between Taiwan and the US by officials at all levels.Alex Wong, deputy assistant secretary of the US State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, visited Taiwan from March 20 to 22. Another US official, Ed Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and a Republican, visited the island after Wong. The visits increased friction in cross-Straits relations.Beijing opposes the travel act and has urged the US to adhere to the one-China policy, and it initiated negotiations on the issue to urge the US to adhere to the three joint communiques that lay out the two countries' mutual understanding."The mainland's major principle toward Taiwan is clear and consistent," An said in response to a China Daily question about "armed reunification"."We will work in utmost sincerity and make our best effort to strive for peaceful reunification," An said. "Our determination to safeguard our country's territorial sovereignty is steadfast. We will not allow any 'Taiwan independence' force to separate the island from China."President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on March 20 at the closing meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in which he vowed to defeat secessionist attempts. The speech was seen as a strong warning to Taiwan."Any actions and tricks to split China are doomed to fail. And these separatists' actions will be met with the condemnation of the people and the punishment of history," Xi said.He also said that the Chinese people "have the resolve, the confidence and the ability to defeat secessionist attempts in any form".An article about the tactics of Taiwan reunification by military force - written by Lieutenant General Wang Hongguang, a retired deputy commander of the former Nanjing Military Command of the People's Liberation Army - was published on the website of Global Times on Tuesday. Global Times is a subsidiary of People's Daily.At the end of the article, Wang introduced what he said would be his next topic concerning military action: "Taking Taiwan in less than three days".Zhu Songling, a professor of Taiwan studies at Beijing Union University, said, "Reunification cannot be stopped. It is China's domestic issue."The signing of the Taiwan Travel Act "greatly harmed cross-Straits and China-US relations", Zhu said. "We should realize it is not a good sign, and should pay more attention at the tactical level." wide rubber bandspersonalised silicone wristbandspersonalised wristbandssilicone rubber bandsmake rubber braceletsjordan wristband rubber24hr wristband
Guo Feng, a 39-year-old with Down syndrome, waits for a bus with his mother, Meng Fanrong. [Photo by Liang Yingfei/For China Daily] A lack of care options means many will have no support when their elderly parents die, as Xin Wen reports. Meng Fanrong once considered jumping into the Pearl River in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, with her baby son in her arms because she was fearful of the future that awaited him. Meng, now 70, quickly abandoned the idea, but her concerns over the future of her son, who has Down syndrome, persist nearly 40 years later. Guo Feng, 39, is unable to speak, so he can't alert anyone if he is unwell or experiencing pain, and Meng can only discern his state of health through tiny changes in his expression. He is also unable to care for himself or perform basic tasks, and it took years to teach him basic skills, such as getting a newspaper from the newsstand or pouring water from the kettle. Down syndrome, also called trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder that results when a person is born with three, rather than two, copies of chromosome 21. The extra chromosome results in impaired mental capacity, delayed growth, flat facial features and lower immunity to a number of illnesses. The mental ability of an adult with Down syndrome is equal to that of a child age 8 or 9. More than 2 million people in China have Down syndrome, according to the China Association of Persons with Intellectual Disability and their Relatives. They have trouble communicating and controlling their emotions, and often rely on their parents for care into adulthood. As their parents age, though, the question of future care becomes an overriding concern. People with Down syndrome generally take a long time to adapt to new environments, and some never adjust to new surroundings. Helping them to adapt requires knowledge of the syndrome, familiarity with the person's habits and endless patience. As a result, many parents worry that without professional care, their children won't be able to adapt at all, and are concerned that caregivers will lose patience and mistreat their charges.
