IN his New Year’s address, China’s President Xi Jinping issued a brutal warning to Taiwan as the nation continues its war games against the self-ruled province.
President Xi is ringing in the New Year with talks of world peace and by piling on praise for his “best friend” Vladimir Putin.
But, his standout message was a warning that no one can stop China’s “reunification” with Taiwan.
Bringing the self-goverened province back in line with mainland China has been a goal of Xi’s for a long time and recent military activity has shown that China is ready to take it back by force.
China has already described Taiwan’s independence as an effort and that annexation through Beijing is a “historical fatality. “
The president said: “People in any of the Taiwan Straits are a family.
“No one can break our family obligations and no one can prevent the historical tendency of national reunification. “
Tensions in the region were raised specifically after the election of the last president William Lai Ching-te in May, which he described as “separatist” via Beijing.
Xi Jinping’s army has increased its military activity in the region in years as a sample of force.
This included circling Taiwan’s skies and waters in October and conducting joint training with its warships and fighter jets near the island.
An aircraft carrier carried a message of caution from Taiwan and separatist supporters: “We are in a position for battle. “
Meanwhile, key ports were sealed through China, while the island’s leaders continue to refuse to recognize Taiwan as a component of China.
China’s Eastern Theater Command said the war games “serve as a serious warning against separatist acts by Taiwanese independence forces. “
He also added that it is a “legitimate and mandatory operation to safeguard state sovereignty and national unity. “
Taiwan the “irrational and provocative” measures.
In return, it sent “appropriate forces” in the form of intimidating fighter jets armed with missiles.
Before this series of war games, China once raised tensions in May when filling the heavens on Taiwan with dozens of combat planes.
The training continued for more than 24 hours with 27 ships and warplanes blocking the island.
Taiwan insists that it is an independent country after separating from continental China in the civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is about a hundred miles off the coast of southeastern China, is cut off from the Chinese mainland, with its own charter and democratically elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions at the top between the two nations, Taiwan is likely to be China’s enemy if it means retaining its independence.
Taiwan’s economy is something in the desperate impulse from China to claim their lands.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to an industry that is the engine of the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, President Xi Jinping has also used threats to the small island nation.
If tensions rise to military confrontation, Taiwan’s military would be dwarfed by Chinese forces which China being the second largest spender on defense after the US.
Taiwan fears a “surprise attack” from China is inevitable and has been preparing for war for years, with Xi having vowed for years to take over the island through force “if necessary. “
A chilling message sent to Taiwan’s government in May, saying it was heading towards “a dangerous scenario of war and danger”.
China’s defence chief Dong Jun said: “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defence of the unification of the motherland.
“He will act with determination and forcefulness at all times to stop Taiwan’s independence and will never succeed in his attempts.
“Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will face their own destruction. “
Despite such tensions, Xi declared on New Year’s Eve that he would promote “world peace.”
“Whatever the evolution of the foreign situation, China will remain in our minds to deepen its reforms (. . . ) and announce peace and progression in the world,” he said.
He addressed Putin in his speech and praised the Russian for being his “best friend” and a “reliable partner. “
Xi told Putin: “Faced with immediate adjustments that we do not see a century and the turbulent foreign situation, China and Russia have constantly complex hands of the correct alignment, not confrontation and not pointing to any third party. “
This year marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia which marked “a new important milestone in the relationship between the two countries,” Xi said.
With Putin’s clash in Ukraine and President Donald Trump returning to the White House, global politics in 2025 is more unpredictable than ever.
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