Top Chinese General Says Beijing Will Attack Taiwan to Stop Independence

Li Zhanshu (R), chairman of National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Li Zuocheng (C), chief of the Joint Staff Department, attend an event marking the 15th anniversary of the implementation of the Anti-Secession Law at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 29, 2020. Yew Lun Tian/Reuters

BEIJING—China will attack Taiwan if there is no other way of stopping it from becoming independent, one of the country’s most senior generals said on May 29, in a rhetorical escalation from China aimed at the democratic, self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.

Speaking at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the 15th anniversary of the Anti-Secession Law, Li Zuocheng, chief of the Joint Staff Department and member of the Central Military Commission, left the door open to using force.