Push to absorb Taiwan ‘is growing’ on mainland
Adviser on cross-strait issues says more voices than ever are calling for legislation to reunite with breakaway island by force
Voices calling for legislation to reunite with Taiwan by force are rising on the mainland amid mounting cross-strait tensions, a top mainland Taiwan affairs adviser warned on Friday.
Li Yihu, dean of Peking University’s Taiwan Studies Institute, said the mainland side saw Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen administration as trying to promote independence through tactical approaches, including culture and education and the appointment of pro-independence judges in 2019 to initiate constitutional interpretations.
“All those pro-independence moves will stimulate the mainland to take coercive steps to respond,” said Li, a deputy to the National People’s Congress.
He said that before passage of the Anti-Secession law in 2005, mainland academics and NPC delegates had been pushing for a “national unification law” for a forced reunification with Taiwan.
“The voices have become louder and the push for such legislation is stronger,” Li said, although he did not believe the issue would be raised until next year’s NPC session.
Premier Li Keqiang said in his policy report at the opening of the NPC session on Sunday that Beijing would “absolutely not accept anyone separating Taiwan from China in any way, shape or form”.
