BEIJING: The tide of history cannot be stopped, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, as he urged the complete “reunification” of Taiwan with the motherland and pledged to achieve it peacefully, making no mention of the use of force.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite Taipei’s strong rejection of that claim, and has repeatedly offered a “one country, two systems” model of autonomy that is not supported by any major Taiwanese political party.
Resolving the Taiwan question is an “unwavering historical mission” of China’s Communist Party, Xi said in a speech at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
“The tide of history cannot be stopped,” Xi added. “The complete reunification of the motherland must be realised, and it will certainly be realised.”
Xi’s comments came in a speech marking the 160th birthday of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen, who helped lead a 1911 revolt that ended centuries of rule by emperors and empresses and ushered in the Republic of China.
Xi said China adhered to “peaceful reunification and the policy of ‘one country, two systems’” and was willing to talk to Taiwan while upholding the “one-China principle” — Beijing’s position that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one country.
All Chinese, including those in Taiwan, should join hands to oppose Taiwan independence “separatist” forces and strive for the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties, Xi added.
Taiwan’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although Xi did not mention the use of force, which China has never renounced as an option for Taiwan, its military operates around the island daily and is extending its reach further into the Pacific.
Taiwan tells people to stay away
Xi’s speech comes a week ahead of the APEC summit in China’s southern technology hub of Shenzhen, where he is due to meet US President Donald Trump again, and a little more than two weeks before important local elections in Taiwan.
Last month, Taiwan called on its people to steer clear of any of China’s events marking the Sun anniversary, saying Beijing had a distorted view of him and his legacy.
Beijing calls Sun a great national hero and patriot, as well as the forerunner of the 1949 communist revolution that forced the defeated Republic of China government to flee to Taiwan, where it remains to this day.
Xi said Sun was a great national hero, a great patriot and a “great pioneer of China’s democratic revolution”.
“Mr Sun Yat-sen consistently upheld the unity of the country and the solidarity of the nation, and he firmly opposed all words and actions that split the country or the nation,” he added.
Father of the nation
In Taiwan, Sun is officially considered the “father of the nation”, and his portrait hangs in the presidential office, although his political philosophy, “Three Principles of the People”, is no longer a required text for schoolchildren.
While Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party champion Taiwan’s separate identity from China, they have adopted a tougher tone towards Beijing on the role of the Republic of China.
Taiwan has been particularly upset by Beijing’s efforts to claim credit for the victory in World War Two, saying it was the Republic of China government that fought alongside the Allies, as the People’s Republic of China did not exist at the time.
China calls Lai a “separatist” and has refused to speak with him. Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.