china taiwan reunification xi jinping what he said

The “reunification” of Taiwan with China will take place. This was declared by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, underway in Beijing. Xi also asked party men to “prepare for the worst-case scenario”.

Remarks that the supreme leader of China pronounced in a decisive tone, foreshadowing a hardening of the climate, already tense, in the world. The war in Ukraine, the Russian ally which does not however follow Chinese indications to make dialogue prevail to resolve the conflict, the commercial, informational and financial war in progress between Beijing and Washington. These are all factors behind the “worst-case scenario” Xi has in mind.

Photo Ansa / Epa Mark R. Cristino

But that does not mean that the Chinese president is giving up on the central objective of his foreign policy, a now almost sacred totem: the independent island of Taiwan. “Reunification must be achieved and will be achieved,” Xi told congress delegates, whose long applause began at the general secretary’s words. The gasoline on the fire of the confrontation with America. China therefore promises to “resolve the Taiwan question” and to continue to work for “peaceful reunification”. And yet he warns that he does not intend to renounce the use of force and reserves the right to use “all means” for reunification.

China and the reunification of Taiwan

“The Taiwan issue should be solved by the Chinese,” Xi said. “We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification, but we will never promise to renounce force and reserve the right to use any means” for reunification, Xi added. At the same time, China will never seek hegemony and expansionism, its president said. China, he said, is a “clear stand” against hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism “in all its forms”. Defects that China attributes, in the first place, to the United States. “All of this has given us wide international recognition,” he added.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during National Islands Day celebrations on October 10, 2022. Photo Twitter @iingwen

Xi Jinping, absolute power

And that’s how Xi called on the Chinese Communist Party to prepare for the “worst-case scenario.” That is to say, to recognize that there may be “great challenges” to be met in the future. To deal with this scenario, he added, “we must adhere to the main principles” of the CPC, including strengthening leadership and adhering to socialism with Chinese characteristics. A way of making it clear that there is no other supreme leader of the party and the nation who is not himself. After all, in the last ten years – the period of his unchallenged rise to power – the Corruption Disciplinary Review Commission has indicted nearly 5 million allegedly corrupt officials. Anyone who intends to challenge him is warned.

Fireworks in the city of Chiayi in Taiwan at the end of the National Day celebrations on October 10. Photo Twitter @iingwen