China claims Taiwan as its territory, the president says that “no one will stop the historical trend of the unification of our motherland”.
“No one can prevent the unification of China with Taiwan,” Chinese President Xi Jinping declared in his New Year’s address to the nation on Tuesday. TASR reports on this according to a report by the AFP news agency.
“The Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one will break our blood ties and no one will stop the historical trend of unifying our motherland,” Xi said. Beijing claims self-governing Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly said it is willing to use military force to claim it, AFP reports.
China has stepped up pressure on the democratic island in recent years and has held three military exercises since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office in May. According to Taiwanese officials, the last of them in early December were the largest in recent years, although Beijing has not officially confirmed these maneuvers.
The statements of the Chinese president come just a few weeks before the inauguration of the newly elected American president, Donald Trump, AFP notes. Taiwan is a point of contention between Beijing and Washington, with Washington not maintaining official diplomatic relations with Taipei. Nevertheless, Taiwan is a strategic ally of the US and the largest customer of US weapons. US-China relations may worsen after Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, as Trump has promised more tariffs to “punish China for unfair trade practices.”
