Xi Jinping, president of China, once again threatened Taiwan (Europa Press/Contact/Xie Huanchi)
Xi Jinping warned this Tuesday, within the framework of the 130th anniversary of the birth of the founder of modern China, Mao Zedong, that reunification with Taiwan is “inevitable” and will happen “certainly” in the future.
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“The complete reunification of our country is an inevitable trend, a just cause and the common aspiration of the people. “Our homeland must be reunified, and it surely will be,” said the Chinese president during a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi Jinping recalled that he “firmly opposes anyone who uses any means to separate Taiwan from China,” while also urging “maintaining the vitality and vigor” of the Chinese Communist Party to achieve its “mission.”
In this context of growing tensions, Taiwan reported last Saturday the presence of Chinese planes and warships around the island, including devices that crossed the sensitive median line of the strait, while the Chinese regime continues its military activities three weeks away. the elections.
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Democratically governed Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has been complaining for four years about regular Chinese patrols and military exercises near the island.
The campaign for the Taiwanese presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13 is already underway. Relations with China are one of the main points of contention.
Lai Ching-te, considered a separatist by China, is the main candidate for the presidency of Taiwan (REUTERS/Ann Wang)
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry stated that it had detected J-10, J-11 and J-16 fighters, as well as early warning aircraft, operating in the airspace north, central and southwest of Taiwan.
Ten aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, or nearby areas, collaborating with Chinese warships to carry out “joint combat readiness patrols,” according to the ministry.
The median line once served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, but now Chinese planes regularly fly over it. Taiwan sent its own forces to monitor it, according to the ministry.
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Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, whom Beijing describes as a separatist, is the favorite to be Taiwan’s next president, according to polls.
The main opposition group, the Kuomintang, traditionally in favor of closer ties with Beijing, has promised to reopen dialogue with the Chinese regime if it wins the elections, but also affirms that the Taiwanese people are the only ones who can decide their future.
The situation around Taiwan worsened last year, after the visit of the now former speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, which was followed by a visit to Washington by a Taiwanese delegation.
Ties between China and the island of Taiwan, which it considers another province under its sovereignty, were broken in 1949, after the forces of the nationalist Kuomintang party suffered a defeat in the civil war against the Communist Party and moved to the archipelago. Relations were reestablished only at a business and informal level in the late 1980s.