US believes China will now move to seize Taiwan 'much faster'
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Beijing aims to seize Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) "on a much faster timeline" than previously considered.
Addressing a forum at Stanford University on Monday, Blinken accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of leading his country in a more aggressive direction.
"We've seen a very different China emerge in recent years under Xi Jinping's leadership," Blinken said. "It is more repressive at home; it's more aggressive abroad. And in many instances that poses a challenge to our own interests as well as to our own values," he added.
The US diplomat also accused President Xi of "creating tremendous tension" by changing the approach toward self-ruled Taipei.
He claimed that Xi's government had made a "fundamental decision that the status quo was no longer acceptable, and that Beijing was determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline."
"If peaceful means didn't work, then it would employ coercive means, and possibly if coercive means don't work, then maybe forceful means to achieve its objective. That is what is profoundly disrupting the status quo and creating tremendous tensions," Blinken said.
He made the remarks as China's ruling Communist Party meets for its twice-a-decade congress, the most important meeting of its political cycle.
In a major speech opening the conclaves on Sunday, the Chinese president made clear that his plans for Taipei remained core to his plans of China's "rejuvenation."
"Resolving the Taiwan issue is a matter for Chinese people themselves, and must be resolved by Chinese people alone. We will adhere to striving for the prospect of a peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and greatest efforts, but will never commit to abandoning the use of force, and reserve the option to take all necessary measures," Xi said.
China has sovereignty over Taipei, and under the 'One China' policy, almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty, meaning that they would not establish diplomatic contact with the island's secessionist government.
The US, too, claims commitment to that principle; but in violation of its own stated policy and in an attempt to irritate Beijing, it has courted the secessionist government in Taipei, supported its anti-China stance, and supplied it with large shipments of weaponry.
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