China Tells Taiwan, “Promote Cross-Strait Relations, Peace Reunification”

Taipei:  Taiwan On Tuesday, the director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office urged the people of Taiwan to forward the “peaceful reunification” process, stating that it is what people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait want to see happen.

Less than two weeks before Taiwan’s January 13 presidential and legislative elections, Song Tao delivered his speech, which followed President Xi Jinping’s declaration on New Year’s Eve that China’s “reunification” with Taiwan was unavoidable.

Song said on his office’s website that “the motherland will eventually be reunified, and it will inevitably be reunified” in his New Year’s address.

Song said, “This is the shared goal and aspiration of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

The people of Taiwan had to “promote cross-strait relations to return to the right track of peaceful development, and promote the process of peaceful reunification of the motherland” , he said.

China’s claims to sovereignty are rejected by Taiwan’s government. The main opposition party, the Kuomintang, and the governing Democratic Progressive Party both assert that only the people of Taiwan can choose their own destiny.

China has proposed a “one country, two systems” concept of autonomy for Taiwan, although none of the major political parties in Taiwan are in favor of it.

China’s stance on “one country, two systems” and resistance to Taiwan’s formal independence as well as “interference by external forces” were reaffirmed by Song.

The election, which the Taiwan Affairs Office has framed as a choice between war and peace, was not mentioned in his statement.

As the referendum draws closer, China has escalated its military pressure on the island, stopped lowering Taiwan’s tariffs, and threatened further economic sanctions.