China renews threats to attack Taiwan, warns foreign politicians

China renewed its threats Wednesday to attack Taiwan and warned that foreign politicians who interact with the self-governing island are playing with fire.

A spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the country was recommitted in the new year to safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and smashing plots for Taiwan independence on the self-governing democracy that separated from mainland China in 1949.

The malicious support for Taiwan independence among anti-China elements in a few foreign countries are a deliberate provocation, Ma Xiaoguang said at a biweekly news conference.

China views Taiwan as a Chinese territory that must be brought under Beijing's control, by force if necessary. A string of visits in recent months by foreign politicians to Taiwan, including by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and numerous politicians from the European Union, spurred displays of military might from both sides.

This week, Taiwan's military is staging drills intended to