Complete reunification of mainland, Taiwan urged

The complete reunification of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan is an inevitable requirement for the rejuvenation of the country in the new era, according to a mainland official and Taiwan affairs experts.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed the significance of resolving the Taiwan question during his speech in Beijing on July 1 to celebrate the centenary of the Party's founding.

"Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the CPC," said Xi, who is also China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Xi also expressed ardent expectations for all Chinese people, including compatriots on both sides of the Straits, to resolutely quash any attempt at "Taiwan independence" and jointly create a bright future for national rejuvenation.

Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that Xi declared in the speech the nation's strong determination and ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Xi's remarks issued a solemn warning to all forces trying to hinder the reunification of the motherland, Liu said at a seminar on cross-Straits relations on July 29 in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Liu called for a clear understanding of the harm caused by "Taiwan independence" efforts and attempts by foreign forces to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

"When foreign forces play the 'Taiwan card', they just regard the island as a chess piece to damage the interests of the country and interfere with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he said, adding that "the chess piece can be abandoned at any time" by these forces.

It's futile for "Taiwan independence" forces to be enemies of the Chinese mainland and resist the historical trend of rejuvenation, Liu added.

"No matter how the situation across the Straits changes, the time and tide for resolving the Taiwan question have always been on the side of advocating national reunification, and the dominant power and initiative have always been on the side of the mainland," he said.

President Xi received warm applause from the audience when he spoke about Taiwan during his July 1 speech, and his remarks about the island later become a hot topic on social media.

Zhu Songling, a professor of Taiwan studies at Beijing Union University, said this means the people are particularly concerned about the Taiwan question and that Xi's speech has won the hearts of the people.

Zhu said that resolving the Taiwan question, which has existed for more than 70 years, is not only the deep desire of the CPC, but also of all Chinese people.

In recent years, foreign entities have been meddling in the Taiwan question, and "Taiwan independence" forces on the island have become increasingly arrogant, which has given mainland people more expectations about how and when to resolve the problem, he said.

Bao Chengke, a professor of cross-Straits relations at the Institute for East Asian Studies in Shanghai, said that in Xi's speech, the word "smash" was used for the first time to describe the mainland's attitude toward "Taiwan independence".

"It shows that there is no room for separatist acts, and the mainland will resolutely crush them by any means, including by force," Bao said.

The Taiwan question has always been an internal affair for foreign forces to exploit, he said, adding that the speech stressed the mainland's ability to resist such interference.

Zhu said that Xi declared in the speech that the CPC is leading the Chinese people on a new journey toward realizing the Party's second centenary goal of building China into a great, modern socialist country in all respects.

On July 1, it was especially important to make it clear that resolving the Taiwan question is one of the Party's historical goals, Zhu said, adding that "the century-old history of the Party proves that it can solve whatever problem it wants to".