Chinese President Xi Jinping was elected as general secretary of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and he secured an unprecedented third term. However, the coming days are expected not to be easy for Taiwan.
After his re-election, Geopolitica quoted Xi as saying, “We will safeguard the overall interests of the Chinese nation and take resolute steps to oppose “Taiwan independence” and promote reunification. “Resolving the Taiwan question must be resolved by the Chinese.”
“We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary,” he added.
Beijing has always vowed to unify Taiwan with the mainland forcefully. Even if we look at the past trends, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been asserting the need for “complete national reunification.”
In 2017, he said “complete national reunification is an inevitable requirement for realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
In 2019, the Chinese leader reiterated the formula to reintroduce Taiwan into China under the idea of “one country, two systems.” The same formula applied to Hong Kong, reported Geopolitica.
The Chinese President, citing reports, has already issued orders to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to remain prepared for an attack on the island by 2027.
However, Geopolitica cited the US intelligence community to say that China might preempt the plan of its attack by as early as 2024. Incidentally, it will also coincide with the Taiwanese presidential elections.
What makes Taiwan such an important international player is that the island nation is the world’s largest producer of semiconductor chips.
Although the two countries have had problems in the past, the tensions intensified specifically this year when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August.
The visit was followed by cyber-attacks and the largest-ever military exercise around Taiwan from the Chinese side. It also termed Pelosi’s visit a “dangerous, reckless, and irresponsible provocation,” reported Geopolitica. In addition to that, China has also tried to isolate Taiwan by forcing many countries to switch their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in return for Chinese aid and investment promises, reported Geopolitica.
On the other hand, Taiwan has accused China of bribing politicians of other countries to recognise China over Taiwan, just like the case in the Solomon Islands and Guatemala cases.
The tension between the two countries has further intensified, ever since Tsai Ing-wen took over the presidency of the island nation in 2016. Under her rule, Taiwan has gotten close to the US in developing submarine technology to strengthen its military, Geopolitica
reported.