China makes energy security ‘reunification’ offer to Taiwan amid Middle East war
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A staff member refuels a motorbike at a petrol station in Taipei on March 9.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING – China offered on March 18 what it said would be energy stability to Taiwan if it agreed to Beijing’s rule, part of a campaign by China to convince the island of the benefits of “reunification”, which it has long rejected.
Governments around the world are scrambling for alternative energy supplies during the Middle East war and severing of shipping lanes through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Taiwan, which had received a third of its liquefied natural gas from Qatar and sources no energy from China, has said it has secured alternative supplies for the months ahead, including from the US, the island’s main international backer.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Offices spokesman Chen Binhua told reporters in Beijing that “peaceful reunification” would bring better protection of Taiwan’s energy and resource security with a “strong motherland” as its backing.
“We are willing to provide Taiwan compatriots with stable and reliable energy and resource security, so that they may live better lives,” he said, responding to a question about Taiwan’s energy supplies during the war in the Middle East.
There was no immediate response to the comments from Taiwan’s government, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
Speaking at a meeting of his ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei on March 18, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te reiterated that energy supplies for March and April are assured, and from June, more US gas will be imported.
“Taiwan has adopted a diversified and multi-source strategic approach to energy imports,” he said, according to a party statement.
China has long offered the island “one country, two systems” autonomy if it agrees to be brought under Beijing’s control, which no major political party in Taiwan supports.
In October, China’s official Xinhua news agency mapped out what it said were the advantages Taiwan would enjoy after “reunification”, including economic support, but said the island had to be run by “patriots”.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
China, the world’s top oil importer, last week banned fuel exports until at least the end of March, in an attempt to pre-empt domestic shortages, sources said, curbing exports that in 2025 totalled $22 billion. REUTERS
