China promised on Wednesday to leave “no leeway” to supporters of Taiwan independence, stressing that “the use of force” to reconquer the island remained on the table “as a last resort”.
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This new warning comes after extensive Chinese military exercises carried out in recent days around the island, in response to the visit to Taipei of the number three American Nancy Pelosi.
The stay of the Speaker of the House of Representatives was seen by Beijing as a provocation, the United States having pledged to have no official relationship with the island territory claimed by China.
The Taiwan Affairs Bureau, a Chinese government agency, released a “white paper” on Wednesday detailing how Beijing plans to take over the island, including through economic incentives.
“We are willing to create a broad space (of cooperation) in order to achieve peaceful reunification,” the document said.
“But we will leave no leeway for separatist actions aimed at pseudo-independence for Taiwan.”
China considers Taiwan, with a population of around 23 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War ( 1949).
In seven decades, the communist army has never been able to conquer the island, which has remained under the control of the Republic of China – the regime that once ruled mainland China and now rules only Taiwan.
“Red Lines”
“We do not promise to renounce the use of force”, underlines the Beijing white paper, the first on this subject since 2000, before qualifying its remarks.
“Force would be used as a last resort, in compelling circumstances. We would be forced to take drastic measures in the face of provocations by separatists or external forces, if they were to cross our red lines.”
The white paper also promises economic prosperity after “reunification”.
China thus proposes to strengthen cultural ties, in terms of social security, health or even to encourage better economic “integration”.
“With a strong homeland to rely on, Taiwanese compatriots will be stronger, more confident, more secure and more respected on the international stage,” the text promises.
Some young Taiwanese, especially in recent years, are beginning to develop an identity different from that of mainland China.
A phenomenon encouraged by the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP, pro-independence) of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who came to power in 2016.
Unlike the previous government, Ms. Tsai refuses to consider Taiwan and mainland China as part of a “one China”. A position that has greatly degraded relations with Beijing.
Despite the current tensions, a Taiwanese opposition politician, Andrew Hsia Li-yan, went to mainland China on Wednesday where, after a quarantine, he should meet entrepreneurs and students from the island.
Senior diplomat, ex-boss of the Taiwanese body responsible for issues relating to mainland China, Mr. Hsia is vice-president of the Kuomintang (KMT), the other major Taiwanese party, which is anti-independence and in favor of pragmatic relations with Beijing.
Controversial visit
“Not only is the moment badly chosen”, but “in addition it is an offense to our army which spares no effort to protect our country”, denounced the Taiwanese presidential party on Wednesday.
This visit “sends a bad message to the international community”, for his part denounced Tsai Ing-wen in front of members of his party.
China considers the party of the Taiwanese president as “separatist”, but also any person publicly campaigning for independence or for the dilution of the Chinese identity of Taiwanese.
The Chinese military has conducted its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan in recent days. They were supposed to end on Sunday, but continued this week.
The army finally announced on Wednesday that “all tasks have been completed”, signaling their conclusion.
Taiwan had conducted its own drills on Tuesday, to practice responding to a Chinese attack.
“Tsai Ing-wen and the PDP (…) are pushing Taiwan towards the abyss of disaster. They will end up nailed to the pillory of history!”, castigated Tan Kefei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, in a press release on Wednesday.
“Relations (Beijing-Taiwan) again face two options for the future. It is up to the Taiwanese authorities to make the right choice as to the direction to take.”