China said on Saturday that it reserves the right to use force against Taiwan in compelling situations, although achieving reunification in a peaceful manner would be its ideal route.
Sun Yeli, a spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), told a news conference in Beijing that “peaceful reunification” is “in the best interest” of Taiwan, as well as for the “long-term, steady development” of China. “[Peaceful reunification] is our first choice for the solution to the Taiwan question. We are willing to continue to make the sincerest and the greatest efforts for peaceful reunification and creating vast space for peaceful reunification,” Sun declared.
Sun Yeli, spokesperson for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Taiwan question: National reunification through peaceful means is our first choice. Non-peaceful means will remain the last resort. pic.twitter.com/R6nB70hahh
— XIE Yongjun 解勇军 (@XIEYongjun_CHN) October 15, 2022
Referring to a white paper titled “The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era” that Beijing published in August, the spokesperson said that the document reaffirms China’s fundamental policy over the Taiwan question.
Notably, the spokesperson said that the Asian superpower makes “no promise to renounce the use of force” and that it reserves “the option of taking all necessary means” to achieve the goal. He clarified that the force would not be targeted at Taiwanese citizens but against “external intervention, ‘Taiwan independence’ forces, and their separatist activities.”
VIDEO: China's Xi Jinping said Beijing's rigid Covid policy, which has forced millions into lockdowns over just handfuls of cases, was 'putting lives first'
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 17, 2022
He also used the wide-ranging speech to condemn 'external forces' interfering in Taiwan, which China claims as its own pic.twitter.com/C95XVfpmjH
“Our goal is to safeguard the prospect of peaceful reunification of the country at the fundamental level and to promote the process of peaceful reunification. As long as there is one line of possibility for peaceful reunification, we will make a hundred times more efforts to realize it. Unpeaceful means will be our last resort,” Sun asserted.
Sun further noted that “Currently, the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces have been provoking constantly in separatist activities while the external forces try to use the Taiwan question against China.” Keeping this in mind, he warned that if such acts continued, they would “pull Taiwan to the abyss of calamity” and “hurt our compatriots deeply.” “Nobody and no force should underestimate our determination, will and ability to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he underscored.
CPC opens 20th National Congress, charts future of socialist modernization #20thPartyCongress pic.twitter.com/TBf7Lg9GFI
— Zhang Meifang张美芳 (@CGMeifangZhang) October 17, 2022
Sun’s warnings were echoed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 20th Party Congress on Sunday, wherein he said that “the use of military power needs to be normalised and used in diverse ways.” “We need to be able to stage military operations readily, create a secure environment, deter and control risks and conflicts, and win regional wars,” Xi told the Congress of 2,300 delegates.
The Chinese president emphasised that Beijing would “continue to strive for peaceful reunification” but like Sun warned that it stands ready to use “all measures necessary” against “outside forces” and Taiwanese separatists, warning of “dangerous storms” ahead.
“Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese,” Xi told the gathering.