Symbolic imageXi says Taiwan 'reunification' will happen, Taipei rejects it
Xi Jinping said on Thursday that the tide of history cannot be stopped and that 'complete reunification' will be realised. Taipei rejected it.
In a speech at Beijing's Great Hall of the People marking 160 years since Sun Yat-sen's birth, Xi called the Taiwan question an "unwavering historical mission" of the Communist Party. He said China adheres to peaceful reunification and "one country, two systems", will talk while upholding the one-China principle, and urged all Chinese to oppose "separatist" forces. He did not mention force, which Beijing has never renounced. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said the model would mean submitting to Communist Party rule, and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh said the wording differed little from the past.
Patrol and G7 warning
Taiwan's defence ministry detected 29 Chinese military aircraft, including J-16 jets and drones, in a "joint combat readiness patrol" with warships starting Thursday. G7 foreign ministers had criticised Beijing's growing military and maritime pressure on the island a day earlier, Folha reports.
Diplomatic calendar
Xi is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the APEC summit in Shenzhen a week after the speech. Taiwan holds local elections just over two weeks after it.
Other opinions
Handelsblatt headlines the speech as Xi again threatening the island, while the South China Morning Post stresses his offer of dialogue with "people of vision" in Taiwan.