China Seeking Peaceful 'Reunification' With Taiwan

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Facts

  • A PRC government official said Wednesday that Beijing is willing to do its utmost to achieve peaceful "reunification" with Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory. Tensions over the island have recently escalated following the trip by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and subsequent Chinese military drills.
  • According to the spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Bureau, the reunification of China and Taiwan is inevitable, though Taiwan could maintain its own social system to ensure the continuation of the Taiwanese way of life, including religious freedom.
  • Referencing the formula by which Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing is proposing the "one country, two systems" model for Taiwan. However, the concept is reportedly widely criticized in Taiwan's political and public spheres.
  • Meanwhile, the PRC's Pres. Xi Jinping is expected to announce China-Taiwan reunification at the Communist Party Congress in October as a long-term goal to be achieved by the mid-21st century as part of the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
  • Most recently, Beijing condemned the "routine" passage of US and Canadian warships through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday. The passage came after US Pres. Joe Biden said over the weekend that he would deploy US troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
  • Biden's repeated pledge to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack was welcomed by Taipei, which said it would resist "authoritarian expansion and aggression" and continue to work with Washington and other like-minded nations to protect regional stability.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Reuters, Alarabiya, Japan Times, CNN, and Guardian.

Narratives

  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by Asia Times. Apart from the fact that only about 5% of Taiwanese support reunification with mainland China, Beijing's idea of a supposedly 'homogeneous Chinese people' on either side of the Taiwan Strait does not correspond to the reality of two fundamentally different political and social cultures. Hong Kong is the best example of how Beijing would seek to undermine Taiwan's liberal and democratic values following reunification.
  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. The historical and legal facts leave no doubt that Taiwan is part of Mainland China - affirmed by the 'One-China' principle recognized by the UN and the US. Washington, however, undermines this agreement, and therefore regional stability - which is exacerbated by the mafia-like customs of the military-industrial complex. Moreover, the reunification of Taiwan with China isn't in Washington's strategic interest of containing China.