Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping’s regime is setting the legal and diplomatic table for a crackdown on Taiwan while blaming the United States for the growing possibility of war over the island democracy.

“In a certain sense, China’s civil war has not yet ended, and the current regime in Taiwan is a rebel regime within China’s territory,” Chinese Ambassador Lu Shaye told a Paris audience last week. “The Chinese government has the right to expel this regime and reclaim governance over Taiwan at any time.”