Sources confirmed to ABC News that Chinese President Xi Jinping made a blunt statement to United States President, Joe Biden, at their recent summit, saying that China will achieve reunification with Taiwan.
The sources said that Xi did not specify whether China would use force or peaceful means, but he implied that he would try the latter first.
This was not a surprise to U.S. officials, who have heard Xi say similar things publicly before. However, it was notable that he said it so directly to Biden at a summit that was meant to improve their relations.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby declined to share the details of the private conversation between the two leaders. He said that Xi has been clear about his reunification goal, and that the U.S. has been clear that it supports the One China policy, which does not favor Taiwan’s independence or any unilateral change in the status quo. He also said that there was no need for violence over this issue.
Biden echoed this stance when he was asked if the U.S. would defend Taiwan from any Chinese military action, given its involvement in other global conflicts. He said that he and his predecessors have agreed to the One China policy, and that he was not going to change that. He said that this was the extent of their discussion on the matter.
China confirmed Xi’s position on the Taiwan issue in its readout of the summit. It said that Taiwan was the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US relations, and that China appreciated the U.S. statements that it did not support ‘Taiwan independence’. It urged the U.S. to stop arming Taiwan and to support China’s peaceful reunification. It also said that China’s unification was inevitable and certain.
According to U.S. intelligence, Xi has been telling his military to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027.
