BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2022) China will sincerely seek peaceful reunification with Taiwan, but cannot exclude the use of force, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday, at the opening of the 20th Congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
"With all our efforts, we sincerely insist on the prospect of peaceful reunification, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the possibility of taking all necessary measures against the interference of external forces and the extremely small number of pro-Taiwan independence separatists and their secessionist activities," Xi said.
He stressed that Beijing's measures will in no case be directed against the majority of Taiwanese compatriots.
The situation around Taiwan escalated after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in early August. Beijing condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island. Despite this fact, several countries, including France, the United States, Japan and others, have sent their delegations to the island since then, further increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan � a territory with its own elected government � maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
