Xi Jinping says Taiwan’s ‘complete reunification’ with China will happen

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the tide of history cannot be stopped, while urging peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan. Resolving the Taiwan question is an “unwavering historical mission” of China’s Communist Party, Xi said in a speech at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as ⁠⁠its own territory, despite Taipei’s strong rejection of that claim, and has repeatedly offered a “one country, two systems” model of autonomy not supported by any major Taiwanese political party. Xi’s comments came in a speech on the 160th birthday of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen, who helped lead a 1911 ‌‌revolt that ended centuries of rule by emperors and empresses and ushered in the Republic of China.

Its Mainland Affairs Council said neither the government nor Taiwan’s people could accept “one country, two systems”, which would ultimately mean submitting to the Communist Party’s rule. “As for the wording on Taiwan unification, it isn’t much different from the past,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh told reporters.