Summary

Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated in his New Year’s speech that Taiwan’s “reunification” with China is inevitable.

China has escalated military activity around Taiwan, including frequent incursions near the island and sanctions on U.S.-linked companies over arms sales to Taipei.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te rejected Beijing’s claims, stating Taiwan’s future can only be decided by its people.

Lai also criticized China’s restrictions on travel and education exchanges with Taiwan, calling for dignified, reciprocal relations based on goodwill and equality.

    • j4p@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Get the sentiment, but just a friendly reminder that most Taiwanese people don’t love the “West Taiwan” meme as it props up the outdated idea that Taiwan wants to make a claim to China, when the vast majority are in favor of just being left alone. This isn’t two aggressors laying claim to each other, it’s one threatening the other.

  • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Sounds rather rapey when you put it that way, doesn’t it?

    • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Very. But I still expect to see plenty of hypocritical leninists ignoring or defending this. Telling us that Daddy Xi is only killing them for their own good. And that if they just lay back and took it that they would learn to enjoy it.

      Not that it’s ever made sense that they defend certain capitalists. While denouncing capitalism and other capitalist governments.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      1 year ago

      I mean that was also reunification. Doesn’t make it a good thing, but it fits the definition of reunification.

  • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    great so that means the CCP is stepping down and letting the ROC government back into Beijing to govern a reunified China? Excellent news if true.

    • xor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      They don’t build the weapons for themselves (mostly), but the US has enormous volumes of weapons (presumably including a lot of drones) already stored in Taiwan so that they can be bought and delivered instantly if they’re needed

  • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Didn’t have Occupied China stepping down and recognizing the legitimate government in Taiwan on my 2025 bingo card

  • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    It’s gross how they always refer to these things as “reunifying”.

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Why isn’t that an appropriate term? It was part of China’s (Qing) territory from 1684 until the Japanese occupations, and is only disunified because of an unresolved civil war. Taiwan (officially the “Republic of China”) considers themself to be China. So why wouldn’t their combination be the reunification of China?

      • kshade@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Taiwan was never part of current China though and does not want to be absorbed into that state. Reunification doesn’t sound right for what China would have to do to make it happen.

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Reunification doesn’t sound right

          It’s an objective term for when states join into a single state, like the unification of Italy for example. It’s not about approval or disapproval, I’m not taking a side by calling it reunification.

          • kshade@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The re- prefix does have implications that go beyond any two states becoming one. Germany’s case is a bit different anyway because it was external forces splitting the country.

        • Mikrochip@feddit.org
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          1 year ago

          Taiwan was never part of current China though

          The same was true for East and West Germany and that, err, merger is generally considered to be a reunification.

          But I agree with the rest you wrote, so I guess it’s a moot point anway.

            • Mikrochip@feddit.org
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              1 year ago

              I mean, true, but that doesn’t contradict what I wrote, does it? I objected to that particular part of kshades argument, not their argument as a whole.

              • kshade@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                It’s a fair argument, I wouldn’t call South or North Korea forcefully annexing the other reunification either though. One state would be annihilated, both in terms of its institutions and its culture. There’s no unity in that, it’s conquest.

                But maybe my view of the word is colored by German history. I don’t know, it’s just that calling what would be a horrible, grueling war “reunification” doesn’t seem right, like an attempt at white-washing what would actually happen. Reminds me a bit too much of Putin’s claims about Ukraine.

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Not an authoritarian, not even taking a side. I’m pointing out that unification is the term for resolving partitions to form a single state.

          • Pungent Llama@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            So its no longer an authoritarian government for 38 years now. Thanks for pointing that out!

            In the mean time Xi is serving his 3rd term in PRC right now, or 4th? Ignoring the rules set up by his predecessors. And you think that’s better?

      • Rhoeri@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If you want something that doesn’t want you- what do YOU call it?

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          You can use both terms, there’s no contradiction.

          Consider the US civil war. The Confederates were (rightfully) invaded and plenty of them still aren’t happy about it, the result was still the unification of the ‘northern’ and the ‘southern’ states.

      • AlexisFR@jlai.lu
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        1 year ago

        Got it, let’s help continental China adopt modern and true democracy then!

        • NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Work on your own imperialist fucking country first. Jesus fucking Christ you libs are insufferable.

      • Mubelotix@jlai.lu
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        1 year ago

        Tankies gonna downvote too. They think they are anonymous in the votes haha

      • etuomaala@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, some of 'em. Most of them are just regular Chinese people repeating what they’ve been told, though. I’ve talked with all kinds of Chinese people like that, and truly, when I’m not being a dick about it, it is amazing how quickly I can change their minds. “Quickly” here means “in a month”. Not during the first conversation. Be gentle.

    • hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      And these people are willingly kissing his ass. They’re not even Chinese people who actually grew up with propaganda, but instead make the conscious choice to believe it.

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Oh is the PRC going to surrender to the ROC? Because Taiwan was never part of the PRC. For there to be reunification, the PRC would have to give mainland China back to the ROC.