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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) last week called for the unification of “patriotic forces” in Taiwan and to strengthen “anti-independence” forces to promote “unification.”
On the sidelines of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference segment of the “Two Sessions” held in Bejing last week, Xi met with the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) on March 6, according to China’s state-run People.cn. During the meeting, he called for the party to “strengthen the forces of anti-independence and promotion of reunification” and promote China’s “peaceful unification” process.
This year, when discussing Taiwan-related matters in the government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang (李强) on March 5, the term “peaceful” was omitted from the description of unification, sparking speculation of a more aggressive policy towards Taiwan among observers. In the report, Li announced that China was bolstering its military budget by 7.2%.
However, during the Two Sessions meeting on March 6, Xi again mentioned “peaceful unification.”
According to People.cn, Xi urged the RCCK to “further leverage its advantages in Taiwan-related work, actively unite all patriotic forces at home and abroad, as well as within and outside the island, and continuously strengthen the forces that are ‘anti-independence and promote unification, thus jointly advancing the process of peaceful unification of the motherland.'”
Xi added that efforts should be made to “actively promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation in the fields of technology, agriculture, culture, and youth development, and deepen cross-strait integration and development across various sectors.”
The RCCK is one of eight minor political parties in China that is directed by the Chinese Communist Party.
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