After a speech Thursday commemorating 100 years of Communist rule in China by President Xi Jinping and a state military magazine article about mounting an invasion of Taiwan, some are wondering if the Chinese government is gearing up for war.
''Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment of the Communist Party of China,'' a transcript of President Xi’s speech to the nation said. ''It is also a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. We will uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, and advance peaceful national reunification.''
The remarks come around the same time as the Chinese state’s military magazine, Naval and Merchant Ships, published an article showing ''hypothetical'' attacks and an invasion of the Taiwanese island that would ''unify'' the nation under Beijing rule.
According to United Press International, the article said the mainland would launch ballistic missiles in its first round to destroy the island’s data gathering ability, including airports, until the areas were clear for an assault landing of troops.
"The attacks against Taiwan's airports would continue until [Chinese] surface troops had accomplished an assault landing," the magazine distributed by the China State Shipbuilding Corp. said.
A second stage would use short-range missiles — like the YJ-91 and CJ-10 — launched across the strait from mainland China, warships and submarines, with Chinese Army surface ships using drones to survey the damage, the report said.
A third stage would clear ''any remaining obstacles'' for the ground invasion of the U.S.-backed island of 2.4 million that broke away from the Communist mainland in 1949.
''All of us, compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, must come together and move forward in unison. We must take resolute action to utterly defeat any attempt toward 'Taiwan independence,' and work together to create a bright future for national rejuvenation,'' Xi said in his speech.
"No one should underestimate the resolve, the will, and the ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.''
This is the latest in a series of moves from the Communist nation.
In April, U.S. military officials warned that mainland China was ramping up to take back control of the independent island democracy by becoming more aggressive in the South China Sea as well as becoming more ''confrontational'' with Washington, The Associated Press reported at the time.
Tensions between China and Taiwan are viewed as a potential major trigger to an all-out war between China, a nuclear power and the United States.
According to the story, such hostile moves would force President Joe Biden to choose between abandoning the Taiwanese democracy or risking a major war with China.
''We have indications that the risks are actually going up,'' Adm. Philip Davidson, the most senior U.S. military commander in the Asia-Pacific region, told a Senate panel in March, referring to a Chinese military move on Taiwan. ''The threat is manifest during this decade — in fact, in the next six years.''
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