Chinese president promises peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday vowed an inevitable “reunification” with Taiwan by “peaceful” means, while, in recent days, the island has reported a record number of military aircraft raids from Beijing.

The Beijing strongman was speaking at 110 ceremonies^NS Anniversary of the 1911 revolution that toppled the last Chinese dynasty.

The event, which is held on Saturday in communist China, will be celebrated the following day in Taiwan, where Sun Yat-sen, China’s first short-lived president, is considered the father of the nation.

The island of Taiwan, which has a democratic system, has been governed by its own authority since the communists’ victory over the mainland in 1949.

China considers this area as one of its provinces. And he threatens to use force in the event of the official declaration of the island’s independence.

“Achieving national reunification by peaceful means is in the general interest of the Chinese nation, including the compatriots of Taiwan,” Xi Jinping said at the huge People’s Palace in Beijing with a picture of Sun Yat-sen.

Despite their political and historical rivalry, both Beijing and Taipei derive their legitimacy from the revolution of 1911.

“The reunification of our country can and will be realized,” said Xi Jinping, warning against any foreign interference.

He touched on the “Taiwan issue is a purely internal issue in China,” while Washington on Friday admitted that Taiwan’s military has been training discreetly for several months.

“No one should underestimate strong persistence […] The Chinese people should defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Commemorating the revolution is one of the few events that unite China and Taiwan.

The island’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, who has been fighting the communists over her independence tendencies, is also scheduled to deliver a speech on Sunday on the occasion.

“Those who betray the homeland and divide the country do not end up doing well,” Xi Jinping said to the Taiwan separatists.

The celebrations of the events of 1911 come amid tensions in the Taiwan Strait, after the largest incursion of Chinese military aircraft in recent days into the island’s air defense identification zone.