Chinese President Xi Jinping has conveyed a warning to his US counterpart Joe Biden, asserting that Beijing will eventually reunify Taiwan with mainland China. However, President Xi emphasized that the specific timing for this reunification has not yet been determined, as reported by NBC News.
According to a report by NBC, three current and former US officials disclosed that Chinese President Xi Jinping has not yet determined the timing for reunification with Taiwan. In a meeting attended by a dozen officials from both China and the United States, President Xi conveyed to Joe Biden that China’s preference is for a peaceful reunification with Taiwan rather than resorting to the use of force.
During the meeting, the Chinese president referred to public predictions by US military leaders asserting that Xi plans to take Taiwan in 2025 or 2027. He conveyed to Biden that these predictions were inaccurate because he had not set a specific time frame, as reported by two current and one former official who was briefed on the meeting.
Ahead of the summit, Chinese officials requested that President Biden issue a public statement following the meeting, expressing the United States support for China’s objective of achieving peaceful unification with Taiwan and emphasizing non-support for Taiwanese independence. NBC News reported that the White House rejected this request by Chinese officials.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council has refrained from offering any comments on the matter. These revelations contribute previously undisclosed details about a pivotal meeting between the two leaders, aiming to alleviate tensions between their respective countries, as reported by NBC News.
Xi Jinping’s private warning to Biden, though not substantially divergent from his previous public statements on the reunification of Taiwan, drew the attention of US officials. This attention was particularly notable as the warning was delivered during a period characterized by escalating concerns over China’s aggressive stance towards Taiwan. The timing of this warning is deemed significant, occurring just ahead of a potentially pivotal presidential election in the self-governing democratic island scheduled for next month.
During the previous Chinese Communist Party Congress held last year, Xi Jinping explicitly stated that China would resort to military action against Taiwan in the event of a declaration of independence with foreign support. At that time, the Chinese leader emphasized that the threat of force was specifically directed at deterring interference by external forces and individuals advocating for Taiwan’s independence.
Image source: ANI
