Xi Jinping’s New Year Address: Reiterates Commitment to Taiwan’s Reunification
In his New Year’s address, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a resolute statement on the contentious issue of Taiwan, reiterating his commitment to the reunification of Taiwan with mainland China. The stance, echoing China’s longstanding policy, has rekindled tensions with the self-governed island and raised concerns across the globe, especially among nations that back Taiwan’s existing status or champion its independence.
Xi’s Reunification Conviction
President Xi emphasized the inevitability of reunification, calling for a ‘common sense of purpose’ among Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. This announcement comes ahead of Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary elections slated for January 13, with the ruling party’s candidate, Lai Ching-te, leading the polls. Consequently, the relations between China and Taiwan have strained further, magnified by increased military pressure from China and the U.S. approving $300 million in military aid to Taiwan.
Implications of the Reunification Stance
The Chinese President’s address underscores the government’s unwavering objective to incorporate Taiwan, a democratic island it has vowed to bring into its fold, by force if necessary. The upcoming elections in Taiwan and the leading candidates’ positions on relations with Beijing are significant facets of this discourse. President Xi’s assertion of China’s ‘reunification’ with Taiwan being inevitable, and the concurrent military pressure from China to enforce its sovereignty claims, have heightened the stakes.
Response from Taiwan
Amid these fraught relations, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Party (DPP) and the largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), have underscored that Taiwan’s future lies solely in the hands of its people. Lai Ching-te, the DPP’s presidential candidate and current Vice President, has faced criticism from China for promoting separatism and obstructing exchanges across the strait. The statement by Lai that the Republic of China and People’s Republic of China ‘are not subordinate to each other’, has further exacerbated Beijing’s ire.
In conclusion, President Xi’s New Year’s address has struck a chord, fanning the flames of an already volatile situation. The reassertion of the ‘inevitability’ of reunification and the call for unity among ‘compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait’ have set the stage for an intriguing turn of events as Taiwan approaches its elections.
