China’s Mr. Xi vows ‘unification’ with Taiwan in year-end speech

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to “unify” China and Taiwan in his year-end speech on Sunday. The election comes weeks before the autonomous island holds presidential and legislative elections.

“The reunification of the motherland is a historical necessity,” Xi said, according to Reuters. The official English translation of his remarks, provided by his office, reads: “China will definitely be reunified.”

“And all Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Xi added, according to a translation posted by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reuters noted that the Chinese leader’s tone appeared to be stronger than last year. President Xi said last year that people on both sides of the strait are “members of the same family” and called for China and Taiwan to work together to “jointly promote the lasting prosperity of the Chinese nation,” Newswire said. added.

Xi’s comments Sunday echo those made last week, when he vowed to prevent anyone from “separating Taiwan from China in any form.”

“The complete reunification of the motherland is an irresistible trend,” Xi reportedly said at a celebration of the 130th anniversary of the birth of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong last week.

Days later, China’s Ministry of Defense reaffirmed China’s threat to use military force to annex Taiwan, an autonomous territory it claims as its own.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Pentagon spokesperson Col. Wu Qian told reporters last week that the Chinese military would continue to take “all necessary measures to firmly protect our country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” We will take measures.”

The Associated Press reported that the majority of Taiwan’s roughly 23 million people support maintaining the island’s autonomy.

China continues to take what appears to be threatening actions around Taiwan, including approaching the island with warships and fighter jets, further raising concerns about the possibility of a future invasion.

President Xi did not mention military threats in his year-end speech on Sunday.

Taiwan will hold presidential and legislative elections on January 13th.

President Biden said he met with President Xi in San Francisco last month and warned China not to interfere in Taiwan’s upcoming elections, given the strained relations between the two countries.

The topic of Taiwan’s de facto independent status has been a source of contention between the US and Chinese governments. Biden has previously said the United States would defend Taiwan militarily if it were attacked, contradicting long-standing U.S. ambiguity on the issue.

But in November, Biden also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the “One China” policy, in which the U.S. does not recognize Taiwan as a state independent of mainland China.

“We maintain the agreement that there is one China policy. We’re not going to change that. That’s not going to change. That’s the extent of what we discussed,” Biden said in November.