If Taiwan submits to Chinese rule, he said, it would enjoy its own system of governance under a ‘one country, two systems’ model
BEIJING — China seeks the “peaceful unification” of Taiwan but will not rule out the threat of military action, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday as he described the annexation of the self-ruling U. S. ally as an enduring ambition and an inevitable outcome of China’s rise.
In one of his most significant addresses on Taiwan since taking power, Xi reiterated an appeal to the 23 million citizens of the island democracy: If Taiwan submits to Chinese rule, he said, it would enjoy its own system of governance under a “one country, two systems” model, much like Hong Kong after it returned to China.
“Different systems are not an obstacle to unification, and even less are they an excuse for separatism,” Xi said. “The private property, religious beliefs and legitimate rights and interests of our Taiwanese compatriots will be fully assured.”
Xi hit relatively conciliatory notes — at least for a tough, nationalist leader who has overseen a withering pressure campaign against Taiwan since 2016. He has also described taking Taiwan, which has been a de facto independent country since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, as a requisite step in China’s century-long journey back to Great Power status.
Different systems are not an obstacle to unification, and even less are they an excuse for separatism
The address was also laced with threats of military force and warnings aimed at the Trump administration, which has shown greater willingness to show support for Taipei by selling arms and dispatching U.
