Xi Jinping says Beijing will reunite Taiwan with China ’peacefully’ during meeting with Biden - NBC News
During a meeting in San Francisco in November, Chinese leader Xi Jinping directly told US President Joe Biden that Beijing would "reunite" Taiwan with mainland China. However, this will be done "peacefully".
This was reported by NBC News, citing three current and former US officials, Censor.NET reports.
Xi Jinping said that the US military's predictions that an attack on Taiwan would take place in 2025 or 2027 were wrong, as he had not yet "set a time frame".
Xi told Biden in a group meeting attended by dozens of US and Chinese officials that China prefers peaceful rather than forceful annexation of Taiwan.
According to the sources, Chinese officials also asked Biden to make a public statement after the meeting that the United States supports China's goal of peaceful reunification with Taiwan and does not support Taiwanese independence. But the White House rejected China's request.
Officials familiar with the conversation between Biden and Xi described the Chinese leader as direct and frank, but not confrontational.
"Xi's private warning to Biden, while not unlike his past public comments on Taiwan reunification, caught the attention of U.S. officials because it came as China's behaviour toward Taiwan has become increasingly aggressive and ahead of a potentially pivotal presidential election on the self-governing democratic island next month," NBC News notes.
"His language was no different from what he's always said. He's always been tough on Taiwan. He's always been tough," said a US official with knowledge of the conversation.
The media outlet adds that Xi's "gun-toting" over Taiwan has been a major concern for Biden administration officials, who are trying hard to avoid a military conflict with China.
