TEHRAN, August 15 (MNA) – China's army will put an end to outside forces’ plans to interfere in China's domestic political affairs and will also foil separatists’ attempts to break away from Taiwan, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said.Wu Qian made the remarks on Monday commenting on the visit of a US Congress delegation to the island.

"The People's Liberation Army of China will continue to conduct drills to prepare for combat operations, we will resolutely defend our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the spokesman said in a distributed statement, "We will crush Taiwanese separatists by all means and foil all foreign forces’ attempts to interfere," TASS reported.

A US Congress delegation led by Senator Ed Markey (a member of the Democratic party, Massachusetts) arrived on Sunday evening for a two-day visit to Taiwan.

The delegation included five politicians from the Democratic and Republican parties.

The visit comes after a recent visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.

The Chinese government has repeatedly stated that Pelosi's trip to Taipei on August 2 and 3 was a provocation that should be seen as "the wrong signal to Taiwan separatists." A day after that visit, Beijing authorities imposed sanctions on the House Speaker and her family and froze several bilateral intergovernmental mechanisms for interaction with Washington as well.

MP/PR