——– Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and vows not to renounce force to bring the self-ruled island under control
BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that “no one can stop” unification with Taiwan, as he addressed the nation in a New Year’s speech.
Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory, and has said it will not renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.
China has intensified pressure on the democratic island in recent years, and has staged three rounds of major military drills since President Lai Ching-te came to power in May.
The last of these earlier this month were the largest in years according to Taiwanese officials, although Beijing has not officially confirmed the manoeuvres.“Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can sever our blood ties, and no one can stop the historical trend of the reunifi-cation of the motherland,” Xi said in a speech broadcast on state media.
Xi’s comments come just weeks before Donald Trump takes office in the United States.
Taiwan is a key point of contention between Beijing and Washington, which does not officially recog-nise Taiwan diplomatically but is its strategic ally and largest supplier of weapons.
The US-China relationship may sour further after Trump is inaugurated on January 20, with the presi-dent-elect vowing more tariffs to punish what he calls unfair trade practices by China.
Agencies add, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to promote “world peace” in a New Year’s message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, state media reported on Tuesday. “No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain steadfast in further comprehen-sively deepening reform… and promoting world peace and development,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, China has sought to present itself as a neutral party, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it remains a close political and economic partner of Russia, leading some NATO members to brand Beijing an “enabler” of the war, which Beijing has never condemned.
According to CCTV, Xi told Putin: “In the face of rapidly evolving changes not seen in a century and the turbulent international situation, China and Russia have consistently moved forward hand-in-hand along the correct path of non-alignment, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party.”
The two presidents share a strong personal bond, with Xi calling his Russian counterpart his “best friend” and Putin cherishing his “reliable partner”.
Their relationship has been a constant despite a decade of growing friction with Western countries, exemplified by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Xi noted to Putin that 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, according to CCTV, “representing a new important milestone in the rela-tionship between the two countries”.
“After three-quarters of a century of ups and downs, China-Russia relations have become increasingly mature and stable,” Xi said, according to CCTV. –Agencies
