China: Xi Jinping vows to pursue Taiwan reunification

A little more than two weeks before Taiwan elects a new leader, President Xi Jinping vowed on Tuesday to steadfastly prevent anyone from “splitting Taiwan from China in any way,” according to the official Xinhua news agency. Despite the strong protests of the Taipei government, China regards democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, and in order to bolster its claims to sovereignty, it has increased political and military pressure. On January 13, Taiwan will have presidential and parliamentary elections. A key topic of discussion during the campaign trail will be how the island manages its relations with China. “The complete reunification of the motherland is an irresistible trend,” Xi declared at a symposium honouring the 130th anniversary of the birth of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who in 1949 overthrew the Republic of China government in a civil war and fled to Taiwan. “The motherland must be reunified, and inevitably will be reunified,” Xinhua cited Xi as telling senior officials from the Communist Party. He stated that China must “resolutely prevent anyone from splitting Taiwan from China in any way,” encourage the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait, and enhance integration between the two sides. Although China has never explicitly denied the potential of deploying force against Taiwan, the report made no mention of doing so. It made no mention of the approaching election either. China claims that although the election in Taiwan is an internal Chinese matter, any effort at Taiwan independence will inevitably result in conflict and present the island’s residents with a choice between peace and bloodshed. China has conducted two rounds of significant war games surrounding Taiwan in the last 18 months, and it frequently launches fighter aircraft and warships across the Taiwan Strait. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate for president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, has been called a dangerous separatist by the Chinese government, which has also rejected his requests for negotiations. The Kuomintang (KMT), the principal opposition party in Taiwan and a party that has always supported tight connections with China but denies being pro-Beijing, agrees that the island’s people should be the ones to determine its future. (With agency inputs)