TACKLING TAIWAN ‘We reserve right to use force to achieve reunification’
BEIJING: China’s armed forces should be ready for combat and be prepared for unexpected crisis and war, President Xi Jinping said in his first meeting this year with the military top brass in Beijing on Friday.
AFP FILE■ Chinese soldiers march during a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China’s Inner Mongolia region.
China’s armed forces – the rapidly modernising People’s Liberation Army – should have enhanced awareness of “danger, crisis and war”, Xi said during a meeting of the central military commission, the top military organisation in the country, of which he is the chairperson.
It is Xi’s first order to the Chinese military in 2019 and he also signed a mobilisation command for the training of the armed forces through the year.
Besides border issues with India, Xi’s command comes in the backdrop of continuing maritime territorial disputes involving multiple countries in the South China Sea; and also gathering tensions with the US over trade tariffs and Beijing’s aim to reunify Taiwan.
On Wednesday, Xi said China reserved the right to use force to achieve “reunification” with Taiwan. Xi brought up the topic of Taiwan days after US President Donald Trump signed the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act into law, reaffirming US commitment to the island’s security.
“The armed forces should have a correct understanding of China’s security…enhance their awareness of danger, crisis and war, and make solid efforts on combat preparations in order to accomplish the tasks assigned,” Xi said.
“The world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, and China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official news agency, Xinhua, warning that various risks and challenges were on the rise.