On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to take Taiwan by force, if necessary, so that the island nation would be reunified with mainland China.
The comments were made during a year-end address in which Xi reasserted the CCP's longstanding position that Taiwan is a rebel region and must be reunited with the mainland, the New York Post reports. Taiwan split from China after the Maoist takeover of mainland China. It was where the losing side went and established what they say is the true heir to China's legacy.
"All Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said Xi.
Similar comments were made during an event on Tuesday honoring the 130th anniversary of Mao Zedong, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party, in which Xi said: "The complete reunification of the motherland is an irresistible trend."
He added that China would "resolutely prevent anyone from splitting" Taiwan from the mainland.
Taiwan separated from the Chinese mainland in 1949, following the withdrawal of democratic forces after their defeat in a civil war against the Chinese Communist Party. Taiwanese residents are now preparing for a critical election on Jan. 13 with polls showing that voters are currently favoring independence-leaning candidate Lai Ching-te, the outlet reports.
Tensions between China and Taiwan are increasingly high as the CCP continues to issue threats of forcible takeover with recent reports showing that Xi Jinping has ordered the Chinese military to invade the island nation and attempt to recapture Taiwan by 2027. This is according to Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns.
In February, Burns revealed that the United States knew as "a matter of intelligence" that Xi had ordered his military to be prepared to invade the island nation by that date.
Burns said, "Our assessment at CIA is that I wouldn't underestimate President Xi's ambitions with regard to Taiwan." Although he added that Xi's order "does not mean that he's decided to conduct an invasion in 2027, or any other year, but it's a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and his ambition."
In 2021, the Chinese state-controlled magazine "Naval and Merchant Ships" published an article detailing a three-stage plan to invade Taiwan, involving ballistic missiles, fighter jet attacks, and amphibious landings on Taiwan's beaches.
During that time, Chinese fighters had been breaching Taiwanese airspace almost daily for months on end.
Xi said during an address that year: "We must take resolute action to utterly defeat any attempt toward 'Taiwan independence,' and work together to create a bright future for national rejuvenation. No one should underestimate the resolve, the will, and the ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The US is a staunch ally of Taiwan, and a defensive pact between the two nations was enacted many decades ago, on March 3, 1955. It was replaced with a less-intensive agreement called the Taiwan Relations act in 1979, which remains in effect to this day.
China has refused to recognize the existence of Taiwan as an independent nation ever since the Communists took over the mainland in 1949, despite the fact that Taiwan is recognized as such, and has its own currency, government, military, diplomatic corps and passports.
