BEIJING: China will offer firm support for “patriotic pro-reunification forces” in Taiwan and strike hard against “separatists”, the top Chinese official in charge of policy towards the democratically-governed island said in comments published on Tuesday (Feb 10).
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory despite the objections of the government in Taipei, has ramped up its military and political pressure against the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims.
Addressing this year’s annual “Taiwan Work Conference”, the ruling communist party’s fourth-ranked leader Wang Huning said officials must advance the “great cause of national reunification”, the official state-run Xinhua news agency said.
It is necessary to “firmly support the patriotic pro-unification forces on the island, resolutely strike against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, and safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”, Xinhua paraphrased him as saying.
China has long offered Taiwan a Hong Kong-style “one country, two systems” model of autonomy, though no major Taiwanese political party supports that.
FOREIGN MINISTER ATTENDS MEETING
The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, underscoring how China sees Taiwan as an issue it needs to promote its agenda for on the international stage.
Taiwan holds mayoral and county magistrate elections at the end of the year. While they focus mostly on local issues, they are an important sign of party support ahead of the next presidential and parliamentary elections in early 2028.
There was no immediate response to Wang Huning’s comments from Taiwan’s government, which says only the island’s people can decide their future.
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