In New Year message, Xi says ‘no power can stop China-Taiwan reunification’

China regards democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory. But Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s claims and says only its people can decide their future and Beijing ought to respect the choice of the Taiwanese people.

Representative Image. File /Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a stern New Year’s message on Tuesday, asserting that no force can stop China’s “reunification” with Taiwan. His remarks were seen as a direct warning to pro-independence movements both within Taiwan and among its international allies.

Over the past year, Beijing has intensified military activities near Taiwan, with frequent incursions by warships and aircraft into the island’s surrounding waters and airspace. Taiwanese officials have described these actions as an effort to “normalize” China’s military presence in the region.

China views Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory, a claim firmly rejected by Taiwan’s democratically-elected government. Taipei insists that the island’s future can only be determined by its 23 million residents and has repeatedly called on Beijing to respect their democratic choice.

“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can sever our family bonds, and no one can stop the historical trend of national reunification,” Xi said in a speech televised on China’s state broadcaster CCTV.

In his New Year’s speech last year, Xi said China’s “reunification” with Taiwan is inevitable, and that people on both sides “should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Tensions have remained high throughout the year in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, especially after Lai Ching-te, deemed a “separatist” by Beijing, became the island’s latest president in May.

Earlier this month, China staged a large massing of naval forces around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas after Lai stopped over in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam on a Pacific trip criticised by Beijing.

China, which never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, conducted two rounds of war games around the island this year, saying they were warnings against “separatist acts” and vowed to take further actions if needed.

US arms sales to Taiwan, allowed by the Taiwan Relations Act, have also continued to strain Beijing’s ties with Washington.

China has regularly warned the U.S. against any military ties with Taiwan, and slapped sanctions on military suppliers and their executives.