Jinping told Biden that China’s preference is to “take Taiwan peacefully, not by force”.

China USA Taiwan Imbroglio: Tuesday, 26 December 2023 marks the 130th birth anniversary of Mao Zedong, the revolutionary who founded the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and led it from its establishment in 1949 until he died in 1976.

China is commemorating the occasion as it should be and Chinese President Xi Jinping made the most of the event to assert the relationship between his country and Taiwan. President Jinping, while speaking at a symposium in the honour of Mao Zedong, said that Beijing “must resolutely prevent anyone from splitting Taiwan from China in any way” adding that the motherland “must be reunified and will inevitably be reunified”.

It has been reported that Jinping told US President Joe Biden during their recent summit in San Francisco that “Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China”.

Jinping told Biden that China’s preference is to “take Taiwan peacefully, not by force” in a group meeting attended by American and Chinese officials. He also referred to the public predictions made by a few US military leaders that “Xi Jinping plans to take Taiwan in 2025 or 2027”. On the same, Jinping told Biden that “they were wrong because he has not set a time frame”.

Chinese officials asked Joe Biden to make a public statement after the meeting saying that the USA supports China’s goal of peaceful unification with Taiwan and does not support Taiwanese independence. This request, however, was rejected by the POTUS, says a report.

China has been proclaiming that Taiwan is an integral part of China and not an independent country, a claim that has been disparaged by the USA and partner countries.

“This story as reported is beyond unnerving. I will be working with Democratic and Republican Senators to do two things quickly. First, create a robust defense supplemental for Taiwan and second, draft pre-invasion sanctions from hell to impose on China if they take action to seize Taiwan,” said US Senator Lindsey Graham responding to the report.

Meanwhile, Jinping paid tribute to Mao Zedong and hailed his political teachings, reported Xinhua. He also led the Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s most powerful decision-making body, in “remembering Mao Zedong’s achievements” at Mao’s mausoleum in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.