China’s defence ministry warns Taiwan ‘we will get you, sooner or later’

China’s defence ministry spokesperson has warned Taiwan “we will come and get you, sooner or later”, after Taipei announced an expansion of military exercises.

The threat was delivered in a press conference on Thursday, but grabbed attention inside China for its apparent mirroring of a line from the record-breaking children’s movie Ne Zha 2.

Wu Qian was asked by journalists in Beijing about reports that Taiwan’s annual live-fire drills, the Han Kuang exercise, would expand in scope this year. The drills are a big part of Taiwan’s defensive preparations to deter or one day resist an attack by China, which has vowed to annex the territory.

“It is a serious miscalculation of the situation, the public opinion and the comparison of strength,” said Wu. “Overreaching itself in such a way is extremely dangerous. We warn the DPP [Democratic Progressive party] authorities that holding back the tide with a broom will only end up in self-destruction. We will come and get you, sooner or later.”

View image in fullscreen Wu Qian: ‘We warn the DPP authorities that holding back the tide with a broom will only end up in self-destruction.’ Photograph: Yew Lun Tian/Reuters

On Chinese social media, the remarks quickly drew parallels with the blockbuster children’s movie. Ne Zha 2, an animation about a young boy battling demons based on Chinese mythology, includes a scene where he admonishes a groundhog, saying: “I will come back and get you.”

Ne Zha 2 has been hugely popular in China, generating massive coverage in state media after it became the highest-grossing film in China, and then the world, overtaking the revenue of Inside Out 2. Its success has driven a surge of patriotism in China, with people reportedly viewing it numerous times, and cheering it on against Captain America: Brave New World, released in China around the same time but with lacklustre attendance.

Ne Zha 2 has not been released in Taiwan.

In response to Wu’s comments and in further criticism of recent Chinese military drills held off Taiwan’s south-west coast, the Taiwan defence ministry accused China of becoming the biggest “troublemaker” in the international community.

5:03 How China uses ‘salami-slicing’ tactics to exert pressure on Taiwan - video

“This year marks the 80th anniversary of (the end of) world war two, and history has proven that any form of aggression and expansion will end in failure,” it said in a statement. “The actions of the communist military in recent years are repeating the mistakes of the invaders and pushing China towards defeat.”

China’s military is pushing on with modernisation efforts, designed to reach capability of a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. Last week, it amended regulations to emphasise that the military’s top responsibility should be “winning battles”, and ordered the military to “focus on preparation and readiness for combat”.

Bill Bishop, a China expert behind the Sinocism newsletter, said on Friday that Beijing’s language towards Taiwan “appears to be getting harsher”. The readout of this year’s Taiwan affairs work conference, held earlier this week, did not include a goal to “promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations”, which had been part of the 2023 and 2024 readouts.

Taiwan is boosting its defences but remains vastly outgunned by China. Its greatest backer has historically been the US, but that has come into question under the second presidency of Donald Trump.

This week, Trump refused to say if the US would come to Taiwan’s defence militarily in the event of a Chinese attack. The stance is in line with the US’s longstanding doctrine of strategic ambiguity, but is a departure from his predecessor, Joe Biden, who repeatedly suggested the US would defend Taiwan under his leadership.

Trump’s stance, taken with previous comments questioning the worth of supporting Taiwan and accusing it of “stealing” US semiconductor business, has raised alarm in Taipei.