BEIJING, Jan 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Taiwan’s unification with the mainland is
“inevitable”, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday, warning against any effort
to promote the island’s independence and saying China would not renounce the
option of military force to bring it into the fold.
China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite
the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war on the
mainland in 1949.
“China must and will be united… which is an inevitable requirement for
the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people in the new era,” Xi said in a
speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of a message sent to Taiwan in
1979, in which Beijing called for unification and an end to military
confrontation.
“We make no promise to give up the use of force and reserve the option of
taking all necessary means” against Taiwanese separatist activities and
outside forces that interfere with reunification, he said.
In his speech, Xi described unification under a “one country, two systems”
approach that would “safeguard the interests and well-being of Taiwanese
compatriots”.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state, with its own currency, political
and judicial systems, but has never declared formal independence from the
mainland.
Relations have been strained for the past two years since the election of
President Tsai Ing-wen, who has refused to acknowledge Beijing’s stance that
the island is part of “one China”.
On Tuesday, Tsai warned Beijing that Taiwan’s people would never give up
the kind of freedoms unseen on the authoritarian mainland.
Beijing “must respect the insistence of 23 million people for freedom and
democracy” and “must use peaceful and equal terms to handle our differences”,
she said.
Last October, tens of thousands of Taiwan independence campaigners took to
the streets in the first large-scale protest calling for an outright
independence vote since the island first became a democracy more than 20
years ago.
But some in Taiwan say worsening relations with Beijing have harmed
business, as cuts to pensions and a reduction in public holidays have
compounded frustrations over a stagnant economy where salaries have not kept
up with the rise in cost of living.
Last year, Taiwan’s ruling party suffered a massive defeat in mid-term
polls, causing Tsai to resign as leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive
Party, while the main opposition Kuomintang, which oversaw an unprecedented
thaw with Beijing before Tsai took office in 2016, made gains.
Beijing has made a multi-pronged attack to erase Taiwan from the
international stage in recent years, including blocking it from global forums
and poaching its dwindling number of official diplomatic allies.
China has also successfully pressured global firms to list Taiwan as part
of China on their company websites.