Beijing –
China’s President, Xi Jinping, said the ‘reunification’ of Taiwan with China ‘inevitable’. Xi said this in a speech reaffirming Beijing’s longstanding stance towards self-governing island democracies ahead of crucial elections in Taiwan next month.
“The realization of complete reunification with the motherland is an inevitable development process, it is the right thing and the thing desired by the people. The motherland must and will be reunited,” Xi said in his speech marking the 130th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the People’s Republic ChinaMao Zedong, as reported CNNWednesday (27/12/2023).
This statement reflects Xi’s previous statements, namely making the takeover of Taiwan a cornerstone of his broader goal to ‘rejuvenate’ China into a powerful and globally renowned country.
But this is especially important now, as it comes just weeks before Taiwan’s crucial Presidential election. There, political parties’ differing views on relations with China often make elections a major test of public sentiment towards Beijing – and lead to what Taiwan claims is an increase in the influence operations of the ruling Chinese Communist Party on the island.
This year’s election comes after years of rising tensions, as Beijing stepped up military, political and economic pressure on Taiwan under the leadership of President Tsai Ing-wen, who is widely seen as cultivating Taiwan’s informal ties with the United States (US).
Tsai’s successor candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party, Vice President Lai Ching-te, is leading in opinion polls. It is openly resented by Chinese officials.
Lai beat two other candidates – Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang party and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party – who were seen as favoring closer ties with Beijing.
The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as its territory, although it has never controlled it. Chinese officials say they want to carry out peaceful ‘reunification’, but have not ruled out using force to take control of the island.
“(We should) promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and resolutely prevent anyone from separating Taiwan from China by any means,” Xi said in his speech.
Taiwan has emerged as one of the thorniest issues in US-China relations. China’s Foreign Ministry said Xi had told US President Joe Biden that China’s ‘reunification’ with Taiwan was ‘unstoppable’ during a meeting in San Francisco last month.
In August 2022 when then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was hosted by Tsai during her visit to Taiwan, China surrounded the island for days with extensive military exercises and cut off high-level military communications with US armed forces.
The channel only reopened last week, after more than a year of careful diplomacy, including the Xi-Biden summit.
The US maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan and upholds the ‘one China’ policy.
Under this policy, the US recognizes China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but Washington has never officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the island of 23 million people. The country is also bound by law to provide democracies with the means to defend themselves.
Disputes between Taipei and Beijing began in 1949, when General Chiang Kai-shek fled with his nationalist troops to Taiwan after Mao Zedong’s Red Army won the Chinese Civil War.
In his speech on Tuesday, Xi called on Chinese citizens to ‘never forget’ the original aspirations and founding mission of Mao and the Chinese Communist Party and remain confident in our history and understand historical initiatives, so as to continue to advance the great cause of China’s modernization’.
(haf/haf)
2023-12-27 09:34:00
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