Xi Jinping’s threat: As New Year is being celebrated across the world, everyone is praying that apart from peace all around, China will not stop threatening in 2025 like in 2024. Chinese President Xi Jinping has given a big statement regarding Taiwan in his New Year message. “Living on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, we Chinese are one family,” he said. No one will ever be able to break the bond of relationship between us. China considers Taiwan an integral part of its mainland and includes it in its diplomatic priorities while pursuing the ‘One China’ policy. During his third term, Xi Jinping has given priority to including Taiwan into China for the second time. He considers it part of his main military and diplomatic strategy.
Foreign policy and global contributions
In his address, Xi said China is actively promoting global governance reform and is committed to maintaining world peace and stability. He talked about strengthening cooperation and solidarity with the countries of the ‘Global South’. In a world full of change and turmoil, China, as a responsible country, is contributing to finding solutions to global issues.
Public confidence amid economic concerns
Another main objective of the New Year message was to give public confidence in the economy. China’s economy has seen a recession following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the real estate sector declining and mass unemployment. Xi said China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 130 trillion yuan (about US$18.08 trillion) in 2024. Also, the production of grains has already exceeded 70 crore tonnes. He also talked about increasing the export of electric vehicles, although the import duties imposed by America and European Union are hindering it.
Trump’s return: a challenge for China
The return of Donald Trump has emerged as the biggest challenge before President Xi. Trump imposed import duties on China worth more than US$380 billion in his first term and accused China of betraying the US. In his recent election campaign, Trump had threatened to impose tariffs of up to 60 percent on Chinese imports. He also strongly raised issues like banning Chinese technology companies and blaming China for the Covid-19 pandemic.
