No one can stop China’s “reunification” with Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s address on Tuesday.
In the past year, Beijing has stepped up military pressure on Taiwan, a democratically-run island nation of 23 million people, sending warships and fighter jets near its territory almost daily.
Taiwanese officials called it a gradual attempt by Beijing to “normalize” China’s military presence.
China considers Taiwan its territory, but the government in Taipei rejects these claims and points out that only its residents can choose their future and that Beijing must respect their decision.
“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can threaten our family ties and no one can stop the historical trend of our national reunification,” Xi said in an address on state television.
In last year’s New Year’s Day speech, Xi said unification with Taiwan was inevitable.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait in 2024 have been high all year, especially after Lai Qin, dubbed a “separatist” in Beijing, became the island nation’s new president in May.
