The Chinese president said on Monday that “reunification” with Taiwan is “essential for China’s revitalization” during a speech at the closing session of the National People’s Congress, the country’s main annual political event.
Xi Jinping called reunification “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), advocated upholding the “one China principle” and “adhering to the ‘1992 Consensus,'” in which Taipei and Beijing recognize that there is only one China, though they have different interpretations of which is the “true” one.
Xi also stressed the need to “promote the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait” after a year in which tensions between Beijing and Taipei soared, during a visit to the island by the then House Speaker. US Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
The island of Taiwan has been governed autonomously under the official name of the Republic of China since 1949, when the 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 post-reelection speech.
“Security is the basis of development, while stability is a prerequisite for prosperity,” he stressed, addressing the nearly three thousand congressmen.
For this, it is necessary to “comprehensively promote the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, and transform [o exército] into a great steel wall that effectively protects national sovereignty, security and development interests,” Xi said.
Source: TSF
