Xi Jinping warns US against Taiwan’s ‘interference’ at Communist Party Congress
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered his biggest agenda-setting speech in five years, blaming “outside forces” for rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and calling them accountable if Beijing feels compelled to do so. to them and warned the United States against further aid to Taiwan. attack the country
“In the face of fierce provocations from Taiwanese independence forces and interference from external forces, we resolutely waged a large-scale struggle against separatism and interference.” In his speech, President Xi The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held on Sunday.
Xi, who reiterated that pursuing unification peacefully is Beijing’s priority but refused to renounce the use of force and did not specifically name the United States, said: rice field. The majority of Taiwanese compatriots
This remark reflects that the United States is trying to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, especially the sale of arms, visits by US politicians, and President Joe Biden’s repeated remarks that the United States is trying to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. It reflects the growing sense of urgency by the Chinese government to was to attack.
“Because the United States and China are involved, [a] The Chinese government is increasingly trying to push back against what it sees as external intervention in Taiwan affairs,” said Chang Wu-yueh, a professor at Tamkang University in Taipei.
chinese government white paper Published in August.
Xi has linked his legacy to unification, saying that integration is integral to his plan to achieve “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049. Taiwan.
As the party congress prepares to make Xi the first party leader to stay in power for more than two terms since Mao Zedong, policy experts may seek to hasten progress toward that goal. I believe.
China “firmly retains its leading role and initiative in cross-strait relations,” Xi told parliamentary delegations.
“Beijing won’t wait for Taiwan,” said Chao Chun-shan, one of Taiwan’s most senior China experts who advised the past four presidents on cross-strait policy. “President Xi has said that the Taiwan issue cannot be dragged out without being resolved, so they are doing what they can manipulate first.”
There is already ample evidence of that effort. Over the past three years, Beijing has unleashed a series of initiatives similar to plans for a post-unification Taiwan, signaling to the public that this time is imminent.
These include a rail link between the coastal cities of Fuzhou and Taipei in plans for a national transportation network project to be completed by 2035. Advice is being offered to Chinese citizens on social media about buying property in post-unification Taiwan. The lecture tells online opinion leaders that the country is moving towards unity.
The impetus is Xi’s proposal, first submitted in January 2019. [Taiwan] Strait” is beginning to look more specifically at the “one country, two systems” framework originally developed for Taiwan and first applied in Hong Kong. He said they “Exploring Two System Methods in Taiwan Enrich the practice of peaceful unification. ”
The Chinese leader’s concept for that process is what he calls “integrated development.” According to a research paper by a Chinese scholar specializing in Taiwan policy, this approach envisages bringing the island closer to China through a network of personal and business interests, and through educational exchanges and educating a unified great nation. It envisions gradually attracting the people of Taiwan to Beijing’s vision of a nation of excellence. Propaganda.
But in Taiwan, that push is going nowhere. Pandemic travel and visa restrictions imposed in both Beijing and Taipei since early 2020 have made it difficult for the CCP to woo Taiwanese students, businessmen, religious groups, grassroots officials and even gang leaders. efforts to do so have been severely hampered.
Even if cross-strait travel resumes, the outlook is bleak. The Taiwanese government is against deeper integration with China, and mainstream opposition politicians refuse to discuss integration. want to keep the population de facto independence of the country.
Xi is now shifting from the more patient approach pursued by his predecessor Hu Jintao to a policy emphasizing progress toward unification. His Wen-Ti Sung, a lecturer in the Taiwan Studies Program at the Australian National University, said: “But now their research and publicity efforts are taking the next step in promoting unity.”
Beijing’s political endeavours increasingly threatening military action There are growing suspicions that Xi is trying to seize control of the country by force.
Following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to Taipei, the People’s Liberation Army conducted unprecedented exercises around Taiwan. Since then, Beijing has sent fighter jets, drones and warships to the island daily.
But analysts believe the US military and intelligence warnings of a looming invasion have gone too far. “Beijing still has strategic patience, which is an opportunity for Washington,” wrote Colonel Zhu, a former senior official in China’s Ministry of Defense and a senior research fellow at Tsinghua University, in an article in the South China Morning Post last month. .
Other experts argue that Beijing prefers to use military force for intimidation, deterrence and coercion rather than war. “There are few scenarios for unification,” he said.
“For him, unification needs to be achieved with China’s great rejuvenation, but this is a dialectical relationship. This must not undermine the ultimate goal of rejuvenation.”
https://www.ft.com/content/faa1664f-0961-4718-9b72-f0b763db6ae1 Xi Jinping warns US against Taiwan’s ‘interference’ at Communist Party Congress