Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the country's top diplomat, repeatedly warned the United States to handle the Taiwan issue with extreme caution. Chinese President Xi Jinping also took a harder line than before, calling for strikes against Taiwan independence forces at an event marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party.
Wang: "Even Minor Moves Affect the Whole"
According to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Reuters on Tuesday, Wang held a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 30. The call came one day before the July 1 ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. It was the first phone call between the two countries' top diplomats in two months, since April 30.
Wang noted that a series of agreements, including the establishment of a "constructive and stable strategic relationship" reached at the U.S.-China summit in Beijing in May this year, had created strategic guidelines for U.S.-China relations over the next three years or more. "The two countries must remove obstacles and overcome hurdles to firmly walk in this correct direction," he said.
"The two countries must always uphold the spirit of equality, respect, and mutual benefit, and translate the important agreements of the two heads of state into concrete policies and substantial measures. Building a constructive and stable strategic relationship is not a mere slogan, but something that must be put into action and worked on over a long period while facing each other," he stressed. "To this end, the two countries must expand the list of cooperation and create more positive agendas, while shortening the list of problems and managing various risks."
Wang added, "The Taiwan issue is one where a minor move affects the whole (牽一髮動全身), and we hope the United States will handle Taiwan-related affairs with prudence and prudence again."
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "The two countries' foreign ministers agreed that this call was positive and constructive," adding that they "agreed to jointly implement well the important agreements reached by the two heads of state and to continue maintaining communication in a flexible manner." The U.S. State Department did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Xi: "Strike Taiwan Independence Separatist Forces"... Emphasizes Military Power
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech at the 105th founding anniversary ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 1, said China must "resolutely strike Taiwan independence separatist forces and oppose interference by external forces," calling for the firm advancement of the great cause of reunification. This is the first time in Xi's party founding anniversary speeches that he has not mentioned "peaceful reunification" regarding Taiwan. In his 2016 speech marking the 95th anniversary and his 2021 speech marking the 100th anniversary, he had referred to a "bright road leading to peaceful reunification" and the "process of the peaceful reunification of the motherland," respectively.
He called for upholding the "One China" principle and the "1992 Consensus" (九二共識, an agreement to recognize "One China" while each side uses its own name), specifying Taiwan reunification as a "historical mission" and a "common aspiration."
Because the founding anniversary speech is regarded as a political declaration through which one can gauge the broad direction of state governance and foreign strategy, this passage gives rise to interpretations that China's line on Taiwan has grown more hardline. Some analysts also suggest that the pressure over Taiwan reunification, combined with the goal of a strong military and the will to control the party that appeared more concretely in the speech, demonstrates Xi's determination to secure a fourth consecutive term.
Meanwhile, it is also drawing attention that this anniversary speech contained no rhetoric at all against the U.S. and the West, expressed as hegemonism and unilateralism.
In 2021, Xi unleashed somewhat radical remarks, saying that bullying or pressure by external forces could not be tolerated and that "anyone who indulges in such fantasies will have their heads broken and bleed before the Great Wall of steel built from the flesh and blood of 1.4 billion Chinese people." In 2016, he warned, targeting the United States, "No foreign country should expect us to trade away our core interests." Such changes are assessed as an expression of China's will to stably manage relations between the two countries following the U.S.-China summit held in Beijing in May.
