Xi Jinping Declares Taiwan Reunification ‘Must Be Achieved’ as China Conducts Military Patrol Around the Island
Chinese President Xi Jinping has declared that the complete reunification of Taiwan with mainland China is an irreversible historical mission, insisting that the outcome will eventually be achieved as Beijing renews its push for unification.
Speaking in Beijing on November 12 during a ceremony marking the 160th birth anniversary of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, Xi said the tide of history could not be stopped and that China’s reunification must and would become reality.
Xi reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to peaceful reunification under its proposed “one country, two systems” framework, while calling on people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to oppose what China describes as separatist forces.
However, Taiwan has firmly rejected the proposal, with its Mainland Affairs Council stating that neither the government nor the Taiwanese people would accept a political arrangement that would place the island under the Chinese Communist Party’s rule.
The speech came as Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported detecting 29 Chinese military aircraft, including J-16 fighter jets and drones, operating around the island alongside Chinese warships in what Taipei described as a joint combat readiness patrol.
Although Xi made no reference to using military force in his speech, Beijing has never renounced the use of force as an option in the Taiwan dispute.
His remarks come ahead of the upcoming APEC summit in Shenzhen, where Xi is expected to meet US President Donald Trump, placing the Taiwan issue back in focus as tensions across the Taiwan Strait continue.