Beijing: Striking a tough posture at the much-awaited virtual summit with his US counterpart Joe Biden on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping said that China will certainly defend its sovereignty and security interests as he warned that whoever plays with fire over Taiwan will get burnt.
In a lengthy speech touching a host of issues at the over three-hour-long summit, Xi, fresh from last week’s ruling Communist Party of China Plenum meet endorsing an unprecedented third term for him from next year and perhaps for life, pointed Beijing’s ‘red lines’ on a host of issues, including Taiwan, and said China’s rise is an ‘inevitable trend of history’ and cannot be stopped.
On Taiwan, where China has pressed over 200 military jets into the estranged islands air defense zone ratcheting tensions, 68-year-old Xi ascribed the tensions to the repeated attempts by the Taiwan authorities to look for US support for their independence agenda as well as the intention of some Americans to use Taiwan to contain China.
‘Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will get burnt. The one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques are the political foundation of China-US relations,’ Xi told Biden.
Previous US administrations have all made clear commitments on this question. ‘The true status quo of the Taiwan question and what lies at the heart of one-China are as follows: there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China,’ he said.
‘Achieving China’s complete reunification is an aspiration shared by all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. We have patience and will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and effort. That said, should the separatist forces for Taiwan independence provoke us, force our hands or even cross the red line, we will be compelled to take resolute measures,’ he said.
Significantly, Xi in his talks with Biden has referred to the just-concluded meeting of the CPC Plenum, which has reinforced his powers hailing him as helmsman, an honorific title reserved for party founder Mao Zedong.
The Plenum took stock of the major achievements and historical experience of the CPC in the past 100 years, Xi said.
‘Over the past century, the CPC has kept to its founding aspiration and mission of striving for the happiness of the Chinese people and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,’ he said. ‘A lot has been accomplished in this direction, but that is far from enough. More needs to be done.’ Xi said since he took over power in 2012 he had stated ‘publicly that the Chinese people’s aspiration for a better life is the goal to strive for…’ Any attempt to stop this historical trend will be rejected by the Chinese people, and will by no means succeed,’ he said in an apparent reference to the US attempts to contain China’s rise.