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Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to reunify China with Taiwan during his New Year’s address, reiterating Beijing’s threats to take over the self-ruled island.
Taiwan split from China in 1949 due to civil war, but Beijing still considers the 23 million-strong island with its high-tech economy as Chinese territory.
Xi emphasized that China would “surely be reunified” and all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose.
China has accused William Lai, the vice president of the ruling Democratic People’s Party, and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen of attempting to provoke a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, called Lai a “destroyer of peace” following a televised debate where he defended Taiwan’s right to rule itself as a democracy.
Lai defended Taiwan’s independence from China and said he was open to communications with Beijing as long as there was equality and dignity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Lai’s election rivals include Hou Yu-ih from the Kuomintang party and Ko Wen-je from the Taiwan People’s Party.
