Xi says Taiwan "reunification" will happen, makes no mention of force
China's leader pledged a peaceful path in a Beijing speech marking Sun Yat-sen's 160th birthday, a week before the APEC summit in Shenzhen.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that the "complete reunification" of Taiwan with China "must be realised, and it will certainly be realised". He pledged to pursue it peacefully and made no mention of the use of force, CNA and The Straits Times reported.
Speaking in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Xi described resolving the Taiwan question as an "unwavering historical mission" of the Communist Party. "The tide of history cannot be stopped," he said. The two outlets carried near-identical accounts, and The Straits Times credited its report to Reuters.
Xi said China adheres to "peaceful reunification and the policy of 'one country, two systems'" and is willing to talk to Taiwan while upholding the "one-China principle", Beijing's position that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one country. He urged all Chinese, including those in Taiwan, to oppose independence "separatist" forces. Taipei strongly rejects Beijing's claim to the island, and no major Taiwanese political party supports the one country, two systems model, according to the reports. Taiwan's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China has never renounced the use of force over Taiwan. Its military operates around the island every day and is extending its reach further into the Pacific, both outlets reported.
The speech marked the 160th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, who helped lead the 1911 revolt that ended imperial rule and ushered in the Republic of China. Xi called Sun a great national hero, a great patriot and a "great pioneer of China's democratic revolution" who "firmly opposed all words and actions that split the country or the nation". Beijing presents Sun as the forerunner of the 1949 communist revolution, which forced the defeated Republic of China government to flee to Taiwan.
In Taiwan, Sun is officially the "father of the nation" and his portrait hangs in the presidential office, though his "Three Principles of the People" is no longer a required text for schoolchildren. In October, Taiwan told its people to stay away from China's anniversary events, saying Beijing had a distorted view of Sun and his legacy.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party champion Taiwan's separate identity and have taken a tougher line with Beijing over the role of the Republic of China. Taipei has objected to Beijing claiming credit for victory in World War II, saying it was the Republic of China government that fought alongside the Allies, as the People's Republic did not yet exist. Beijing calls Lai a "separatist" and refuses to talk to him. Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Xi is due to meet US President Donald Trump again at the APEC summit in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen next week. Taiwan holds local elections a little more than two weeks from now.
Sources: CNA, Chinese President Xi Jinping says Taiwan 'reunification' must happen as history cannot be stopped; The Straits Times, China’s Xi says Taiwan ‘reunification’ must happen as history cannot be stopped.
