Key facts
- Xi called resolving the Taiwan question an unwavering historical mission of China's Communist Party.
- Xi made no mention of the use of force in the speech, according to Reuters.
- Xi spoke on the 160th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, who helped lead the 1911 revolt that ended imperial rule.
- Taiwan's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- China's military operates around Taiwan on a daily basis, Reuters reported.
- Taiwan last month urged its people to avoid China's events marking the Sun Yat-sen anniversary.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on November 12 that the tide of history cannot be stopped and that complete reunification of the motherland must be realized and will certainly be realized. He spoke at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on the 160th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, who helped lead a 1911 revolt that ended centuries of rule by emperors and empresses.
Xi pledged to pursue reunification peacefully and made no mention of the use of force, Reuters reported. He said China adheres to peaceful reunification and the policy of one country, two systems and is willing to talk to Taiwan on the basis of upholding the one-China principle, Beijing's position that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one country.
Xi called resolving the Taiwan question an unwavering historical mission of China's Communist Party and urged all Chinese, including those in Taiwan, to join hands against Taiwan independence separatist forces and work for peaceful development of cross-Strait ties. Taiwan's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory despite Taipei's rejection of that claim, and has repeatedly offered a one country, two systems model of autonomy that no major Taiwanese political party supports. China's military operates around Taiwan on a daily basis, Reuters reported.
Last month, Taiwan called on its people to steer clear of China's events marking the anniversary, saying China had a distorted view of Sun and his legacy. Beijing calls Sun a great national hero and patriot and the forerunner of the 1949 communist revolution that forced the defeated Republic of China government to flee to Taiwan, where it remains. In Taiwan, Sun is officially considered the father of the nation and his portrait hangs in the presidential office.