In the view of the party and its media, Taiwan is one of China’s top priorities, and the island is part of China. Chinese president Xi Jinping stated that “resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China’s complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the [CCP],” according to China Daily. “There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, according to a XinhuaNet article. A Global Times editorial referred to the island as “Taiwan Province of China.”
And given that the CCP believes Taiwan is a part of China, it considers formal reunification inevitable. Citing “a mainland official and Taiwan affairs experts,” China Daily claimed that “the complete reunification of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan is an inevitable requirement for the rejuvenation of the country in the new era.” Another China Daily article stated that “the reunification of China is unstoppable and therefore just a matter of time.”
The CCP is also attempting to demoralize the Taiwanese people by claiming that their strategic partnership with the United States is worthless. Taiwan is merely a “chess piece [that] can be abandoned at any time” by the United States, according to China Daily. Using a similar analogy, a Global Times article likened Taiwan’s current ruling party to “strategic pawns of the US” that could “bear the bitter fruits of war.” According to another Global Times article, “the so-called alliance that Taiwan has forged with the US is nothing but an empty promise.” “Those who have a clear mind should understand that Taiwan residents can’t rely on the US,” stated Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, according to Global Times. The editors of Global Times also stated “we want to warn secessionists on Taiwan island: Don’t swim in the sputum [U.S. president Joe] Biden carelessly spits out.”
The CCP media specifically stresses that Taiwan cannot rely on the United States to save it militarily from China. Global Times claims that “once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and the US military won’t come to help.” According to China Daily, “Even with the US weapons, those ‘Taiwan independence’ forces should not harbor the illusion that they have any chance of separating the island from China. In fact, they should sober up to the fact that the US arms sales are nothing but an invitation of humiliation for themselves and danger for Taiwan.”
China’s media also contains numerous indications that Beijing is prepared to go to war over Taiwan. Sometimes, the threat of war is clearly stated. Bao Chengke, a professor at the Institute for East Asian Studies in Shanghai, remarked that “the mainland will resolutely crush [Taiwan] by any means, including force,” according to China Daily. A Global Times editorial stated that the presence of U.S. troops in Taiwan is “equivalent to a military invasion and occupation of the Taiwan Province of China.” It added that “an all-out war across the Taiwan Straits will break out quickly, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will wipe out the US forces, liberate the island of Taiwan, and settle the Taiwan question once and for all.”
Other times, the use of force is thinly veiled behind language that China will use “all necessary measures.” Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, stated that “we have the right to take all necessary measures to stop” Taiwan from defending itself. According to another China Daily article, “The Chinese military has recently made it loud and clear that it will be on high alert and take all necessary measures to foil any attempt from those seeking ‘Taiwan independence.’”
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, stated that his command is “capable of crushing any ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist activities and resolutely safeguard[ing] national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to Global Times.
Regarding U.S. and Chinese divergence on Taiwan, the editors at Global Times asked:
Much uncertainty hovers over the Taiwan Strait. But Chinese state-run media shows that the mainland is quite prepared for conflict with Taiwan.
Steve Postal has been previously published in the American Spectator, American Thinker, the Christian Post, the Dark Wire / SaraaCarter.com, the Federalist, Israel National News, the Times of Israel, and the Washington Post. He has also been a featured commentator on Rose Unplugged, WJAS Talk Radio 1320 AM (Pittsburgh, PA). His Twitter handle is @HebraicMosaic, and he can be reached at hebraicmosaic@gmail.com.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
