Xi vows to reunify China-Taiwan in New Year's Eve speech
What's the story
Chinese President Xi Jinping has reiterated his commitment to reunifying China and Taiwan in his annual New Year's Eve address. "The reunification of our motherland...is unstoppable," he said. The speech came a day after China's military conducted extensive drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of major ports. The exercises, named "Justice Mission 2025," involved over 200 warplanes. Taiwan also said that 27 missiles were fired toward it, with several of them landing within 27 nautical miles of its coastline.
Diplomatic efforts
Xi's speech highlights China's global engagement
In his speech, Xi also stressed China's openness to the world and its role in multilateral events like the Shanghai Cooperation Summit. He also showcased footage from a massive military parade held in September to commemorate 80 years since World War II ended. The parade featured leaders from Russia, North Korea, and China standing together, a geopolitical alignment dubbed the "axis of upheaval."
Taiwanese reaction
Taiwan responds to China's military drills
Taiwan remained on high alert after the military drills, with 25 Chinese Navy and Coast Guard ships still in its vicinity. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te warned of China's "rising expansionary ambitions" and called for increased defense spending. "Facing China's alarming military ambitions, Taiwan has no time to wait and certainly no time to consume ourselves with internal strife," Lai said. He compared Taiwan's situation to European democracies facing threats from Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Xi
Xi's vision
The annexation of Taiwan and other nations' recognition of Taiwan as part of "One China" administered by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing are central to Xi's vision of a new global order. However, other nations, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, the European Union, and the United States, criticized China's drills this week. China's foreign ministry claimed it had filed "serious protests" over their remarks, arguing that those countries' domestic policies recognized Taiwan as part of China.