China's Xi says Taiwan 'reunification' must happen as history cannot be stopped

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on November 12 that resolving the Taiwan question and achieving complete reunification is a historic mission the Chinese Communist Party has consistently pursued, according to the Seoul Economic Daily citing state-run Xinhua News Agency. Xi made the remarks at a ceremony in Beijing marking the 160th anniversary of the birth of Sun Yat-sen, who led the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty and is revered in China as a great pioneer of revolution and in Taiwan as the founding father of the Republic of China.

"Compatriots on both sides of the strait and all members of the Chinese nation at home and abroad should join hands to jointly oppose 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and work together to achieve the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and the complete reunification of the motherland," Xi said. He added that Sun Yat-sen consistently championed national unification and ethnic unity and firmly stood against all words and actions aimed at dividing the country and the nation.

About 3,000 people attended the event, including Standing Committee members of the Communist Party's Politburo such as Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, along with Sun's relatives and officials from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The ceremony was held with the highest level of protocol, matching the 2016 event marking the 150th anniversary of Sun's birth, which Xi and the Politburo Standing Committee members also attended in force.

Beyond the ceremony, China has mounted a broad publicity campaign with a range of events marking the anniversary. According to Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, state broadcaster China Central Television began airing a six-part documentary titled "Sun Yat-sen" on November 8 in the prime-time 8 p.m. slot. Over the past month, concerts and exhibitions themed on Sun have also been held in cities including Nanjing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Guangzhou. Wang Kung, chairman of Taiwan's Association of International Strategic Studies, told Lianhe Zaobao that the campaign is an attempt to link national identity and a shared cross-strait history through Sun's historical image.

Taiwan has pushed back strongly, calling the campaign a political operation. The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's agency handling relations with mainland China, said in a statement that the Chinese Communist Party is distorting Sun's ideas and historical significance and is using the commemorative events as a vehicle to promote opposition to Taiwan independence and to press for unification.