China to support ‘reunification forces’ in Taiwan, go after ‘separatists’
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The top Chinese official in charge of policy towards Taiwan, Mr Wang Huning, said it was necessary to “firmly support the patriotic pro-unification forces on the island”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING – China will offer firm support for “patriotic pro-reunification forces” in Taiwan and strike hard against “separatists”, the top Chinese official in charge of policy towards the democratically-governed island said in comments published on Feb 10.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory despite the objections of the government in Taipei, has ramped up its military and political pressure against the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims.
Addressing 2026’s annual Taiwan Work Conference, the ruling communist party’s fourth-ranked leader Wang Huning said officials must advance the “great cause of national reunification”, the official state-run Xinhua news agency said.
It is necessary to “firmly support the patriotic pro-unification forces on the island, resolutely strike against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, oppose interference by external forces, and safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”, Xinhua paraphrased him as saying.
Taiwan’s government, which says only the island’s people can decide their future, said in response to Mr Wang’s remarks that he was repeating the usual Chinese talking points about opposing separatism and taking eventual control of the island.
China’s “ultimate goal is to eliminate the Republic of China and advance unification,” Taiwan’s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement, referring to the island’s formal name.
While the Xinhua report made no mention of the use of force, China has never renounced using military means to bring Taiwan under its control, and the Chinese Defence Ministry struck a stronger note commenting on Taiwanese military deployments.
“If the ‘Taiwan independence’ armed forces dare to provoke a conflict, they will inevitably be wiped out,” ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said on Feb 10 in Beijing.
China has long offered Taiwan a Hong Kong-style “one country, two systems” model of autonomy, though no major Taiwanese political party supports that.
Taiwan’s government says Beijing’s rule in the former British colony has brought only repression, with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Feb 10 citing the sentencing of Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison the previous day.
“Jimmy Lai’s sentencing exposes the Hong Kong national security law for what it is – a tool of political persecution under China’s ‘one country, two systems’ that tramples human rights and freedom of press,” he wrote on social media platform X.
Taiwan holds mayoral and county magistrate elections at the end of 2026.
While they focus mostly on local issues, they are an important sign of party support ahead of the next presidential and parliamentary elections in early 2028.
Beijing has repeatedly warned other countries, including the US, against meddling in the Taiwan issue, which it said is its internal affair.
In a call with US President Donald Trump last week, China’s President Xi Jinping said Taiwan is the most important issue
The Trump administration announced in December the largest ever US weapons package
China refuses to speak to Mr Lai and has rebuffed his repeated offers of talks, saying he is a “separatist” who must accept that Taiwan is part of China.
Mr Wang was speaking just a week after meeting a delegation from Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which was in Beijing for a meeting of party think-tanks.
Speaking to reporters earlier on Feb 10 in Taipei, KMT vice-chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen, who led the delegation to Beijing, said there had been no discussion of political topics when they met Mr Wang, as the trip there was to discuss topics like tourism and artificial intelligence. REUTERS
