Chinese President Xi Jinping, while addressing the nation on the occasion of New Year on Tuesday, said that no one can stop unification with Taiwan. Beijing considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory and has made it clear that it will not hesitate to use force to bring it under its control. In recent years, China’s pressure on this democratic island has been increasing continuously. There have been three rounds of military exercises around Taiwan since President Lai Ching-te took power in May. The last maneuvers, held earlier this month, were much larger, according to Taiwanese officials, although Beijing did not officially confirm this.
In his speech, Xi Jinping said, “The Chinese living on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can break our blood ties. The historical trend of reunification of the motherland cannot be stopped.” Let it be known that China considers Taiwan with a population of 23 million as its territory and has been objecting to the formal relations of other countries with it. Most countries, including the US, do not recognize Taiwan as an independent country, but the US is unofficially a major supporter of Taiwan and provides it with arms. China has vowed to occupy Taiwan through military force and sends ships and military aircraft near the island almost daily.
China’s reaction to US military aid to Taiwan
China has recently expressed strong objection to the military aid provided by America to Taiwan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said China is dissatisfied with US military aid to Taiwan and has lodged a strong protest with the US. US President Joe Biden had announced that $5.71 million in military aid would be allocated to Taiwan, a move under presidential authority to provide aid to a foreign state. On this, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, America has once again approved the sale of military aid and arms to China’s Taiwan region. This is a serious violation of the One-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, especially the August 17 communiqué of 1982.
