The Chinese President said today that “reunification” with Taiwan is “essential for the revitalisation of China” during a speech at the closing session of the National People’s Assembly, the country’s main annual political event.
Xi Jinping said reunification is “a common aspiration of the Chinese nation” and stressed the need for China to “oppose external forces” and “secessionists”.
The President, re-elected on Friday for an unprecedented third presidential term (2023-2028), called for upholding the “one-China principle” and “adherence to the ‘1992′ Consensus”, in which Taipei and Beijing recognise that there is only one China, although they have different understandings of which is the “true” one.
Xi also stressed the need to “promote the peaceful development of relations in the Taiwan Strait” after a year in which tensions between Beijing and Taipei skyrocketed, during a visit to the island by then US Congressional House of Representatives leader Nancy Pelosi.
The island of Taiwan has been autonomously governed under the official name of the Republic of China since 1949, when KMT nationalists took refuge there after losing the civil war against the Communists, with Beijing claiming sovereignty over the territory.
Xi Jinping also stressed the need to strengthen national security in his first speech after re-election.
“Security is the basis for development, while stability is a prerequisite for prosperity,” he stressed, addressing some 3,000 congressmen.
To this end, it is necessary to “fully promote the modernisation of national defence and the armed forces, and transform [the army] into a great wall of steel that effectively protects the national interests of sovereignty, security and development”, Xi argued.
