BEIJING (TND) — Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed China will reunite with Taiwan on Sunday.
Xi stated “China will surely be reunified” and foretold Taiwanese and Chinese citizens prospering from the predicted reunification in his New Year’s message.
Xi’s message warned of the two nations’ reunification in a stronger tone than last year, when he hoped “members of one and the same family” on either side of the Taiwan Strait would work together to “jointly foster lasting prosperity of the Chinese nation.”
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen argues her country’s ties with China must be decided by the “will of the Taiwanese people.” She claims Beijing is trying to interfere in its Jan. 13 presidential election.
China has denounced Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), saying he “exposed his true face as a stubborn ‘worker for Taiwan independence’ and destroyer of peace across the Taiwan Strait” following a debate, according to CNBC.
The DPP’s opposing party, the Kuomintang (KMT), prefers closer ties with China. KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih has denounced Lai as an independence supporter, according to CNBC.
Lai’s win would strengthen U.S.-Taiwan relations, according to Axios. Xi claims “mutual respect,” “peaceful coexistence” and “win-win cooperation” is how the U.S. and China should interact, although Beijing has claimed it “reserves the option of taking all necessary measures” against outside forces fighting against unification, according to the BBC.
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Xi and President Joe Biden met in November to discuss Taiwanese relations. Biden told him they have to “ensure competition does not veer into conflict.”
Xi also congratulated Biden for 45 years of diplomacy between the two nations, arguing one country’s success is an opportunity for the other and the two leaders can “help each other succeed and prosper together.”
“For 45 years, China-U.S. relations have weathered winds and rains and come a long way,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. “History shows that the growth of China-U.S. relations not only contributes to the good of the two peoples but also to world peace, stability and development.
