Just one day after President Joe Biden held a lengthy phone call with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) posted, “Preparing for war!” on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
According to the Chinese state-run news outlet Global Times, the post quickly garnered over 19,000 comments.
A screenshot of the PLA’s Weibo post – which stated, “Preparing for war!” -circulated on Twitter. User Duan Dang tweeted that the post reached over 300,000 likes within 12 hours.
The Global Times reported that morale is high among the PLA’s soldiers, and they are ready to “forge ahead and work hard to achieve the centenary goal of the PLA and win great victories and glory in the new era.”
During the phone call between Biden and Xi on Thursday, Biden reaffirmed to Xi that “United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” according to the White House.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China characterized Biden’s comments on Taiwan as being firmly against the island nation’s independence and claimed that Biden reiterated his support for the one-China policy. There was no indication that Xi told Biden China was “preparing for war” during the phone call.
The call came after China issued threats against the U.S. over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi potentially visiting Taiwan. Biden subsequently said the U.S. military cautioned against Pelosi traveling to Taiwan, however, the U.S. military has been making preparations to bolster forces if Pelosi does indeed take the trip.
While it is still unclear if Pelosi will travel to Taiwan, officials said the U.S. military will likely use fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets, and other military systems to protect the speaker during her flight and throughout her trip to the island.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian threatened the U.S. with “strong and resolute measures” if Pelosi travels to Taiwan, although he never explicitly said that the communist nation was preparing for war.
“If Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, it would seriously violate the one-China principle and the stipulations in the three China-U.S. joint communiqués and harm China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Lijian said.
“Should the U.S. side insist on doing otherwise, China will take strong and resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he concluded. “The US must assume full responsibility for any ensuing consequences.”