Reunification is coming
Xi bluntly explained his Taiwan plan to Biden
December 21, 2023, 10:25 a.m
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According to the Chinese interpretation, Taiwan is part of the national territory anyway. Beijing has made this clear again and again verbally and with military maneuvers. During a meeting in the USA, President Xi then explained to US President Biden in no uncertain terms what he planned to do with the island nation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping bluntly told President Joe Biden during the recent summit in San Francisco that Beijing would reunite Taiwan with mainland China. Only the timing has not yet been determined, report current and former US officials, according to NBC News. Xi told Biden at a group meeting in November attended by numerous American and Chinese officials that China would ideally like to take Taiwan peacefully, the officials said.
The Chinese head of state is said to have also referred to public predictions from US military officials. They had predicted that Xi wanted to take Taiwan in either 2025 or 2027. He explained to Biden that these predictions were wrong because there was no time frame yet. This is how two current and one former officials describe it, who say they were informed about the meeting.
Chinese officials also apparently demanded in advance of the summit that Biden make a public statement after the meeting declaring that the U.S. supports China’s goal of peaceful unification with Taiwan and does not support Taiwanese independence, the officials said. However, the White House rejected the Chinese request. A spokesman for the National Security Council had no comment.
Taiwan will elect new president in 2024
Xi’s warning to Biden did not differ significantly from his previous public statements on the reunification of Taiwan. However, it was made at a time when China was increasingly aggressive towards Taiwan. In addition, presidential elections are scheduled for mid-January 2024 on the self-governing democratic island, which could determine the direction for the next few years.
After the release of the NBC report, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that Republicans and Democrats must work together to deter China. “This story, as reported, is beyond troubling,” Graham said. “I will work with Democratic and Republican senators to do two things quickly. First, create a robust defense complement for Taiwan and second, draft hellish pre-invasion sanctions that can be imposed on China should it attack Taiwan.”
Officials familiar with the conversation between Biden and Xi described the Chinese leader as blunt and open, but non-confrontational, according to NBC. “His language was no different than what he always said. He is always tough on Taiwan. He has always taken a hard line,” a U.S. official said.
At last year’s Chinese Communist Party Congress, Xi publicly stated that China would attack Taiwan militarily if it declared independence with foreign support. He said the threat of violence was aimed solely at interference from outside forces and the few separatists who seek Taiwan’s independence.