China’s plan to forcefully ‘take’ Taiwan is accelerating under Xi Jinping and a more ‘aggressive’ communist Beijing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns
- Delivering a speech at the congress on Sunday, Xi restated his goal to ‘reunify’ Taiwan with China
- ‘The wheels of history are rolling toward China’s reunification’ with Taiwan, Xi said at the Communist Party Congress, which gathers every five years
- ‘We’ve seen a very different China emerge in recent years under Xi Jinping’s leadership,’ Blinken said
- ‘Beijing was determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline,’ Blinken said
Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday China is speeding up its timeline to overtake Taiwan by force as President Xi Jinping looks set to secure a third term at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Congress this week.
Delivering a speech at the congress on Sunday, Xi restated his goal to ‘reunify’ Taiwan with China.
‘We’ve seen a very different China emerge in recent years under Xi Jinping’s leadership,’ Blinken told a forum at Stanford University with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
‘There has been a change in the approach from Beijing toward Taiwan in recent years, Blinken said, including ‘a fundamental decision that the status quo was no longer acceptable and that Beijing was determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline.’
‘The wheels of history are rolling toward China’s reunification’ with Taiwan, Xi said at the Communist Party Congress, which gathers every five years.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday China is speeding up its timeline to overtake Taiwan by force as President Xi Jinping looks set to secure a third term at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Congress this week
‘The wheels of history are rolling toward China’s reunification’ with Taiwan, Xi said at the Communist Party Congress, which gathers every five years
He said that while China preferred peaceful measures to retake the island democracy of 23 million people it would not rule out ‘the option to take all necessary measures.’
U.S. officials have worried that Xi may soon take a page out of Russia’s playbook – Beijing has not condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. He has ramped up military drills along Taiwan’s coastline in the Taiwan Strait.
Xi in his address described a ‘great rejuvenation’ of China, putting it at the center of global affairs as an ‘irreversible historical process.’
Washington-Beijing relations have soured under both President Trump and President Biden as the U.S. calls out China on human rights violations, trade abuses, security threats and Covid-19 origins.
Xi Jinping is almost certain to be given an historic third term as Communist Party leader and effective ruler of China at Party Congress, which is currently underway in Beijing (pictured) – opening the door for him to impose his vision on the country
Xi has vowed to grow China’s military in his third term, but an expert MailOnline spoke to believes it is ‘extremely unlikely’ he will attack Taiwan – and it would be a political and economic ‘disaster’ if he did
Last week, Biden released his official national security strategy that focused heavily on ‘outcompeting’ China. The president made it clear that despite Russia’s nuclear threats, he is more concerned about China in the long-term.
U.S.-China frictions heightened after a series of U.S. lawmaker visits to Taiwan, most especially that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, followed by Biden’s curious insistence that the U.S. would defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.
China cut cooperation with the U.S. on climate change and drug trafficking in August after Pelosi’s visit.
Asked by CBS’ 60 Minutes last month whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan, Biden replied: ‘Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.’
‘So unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir, U.S. Forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?’ CBS asked.
Biden simply replied, ‘Yes.’
However he also toed closer to US policy when stating ‘we’re not encouraging their being independent’ from China, adding that it was up to Taiwan.
The White House again undercut the president’s forceful rhetoric by saying U.S. policy ‘has not changed’ after the interview.
It’s the fourth time in a little over a year that the White House had to pump the breaks on Biden’s enthusiastic defense of Taiwan.
Responding to Blinken’s speech Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the U.S. of altering its approach to Taiwan, citing Pelosi’s visit and arms sales to the island.
‘Peacefully resolving the Taiwan issue cannot coexist with Taiwan separatism,’ Wang said.
Last year, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that China’s threat to move in on Taiwan would ‘manifest during this decade, in fact, in the next six years.’
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