In a speech commemorating the 130th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that Taiwan’s unification with mainland China is “inevitable.” The president vowed to prevent any attempts to “split Taiwan from China” and hinted at a personal commitment to realizing the unification that eluded Mao during his lifetime.
“The realization of the complete reunification with the motherland is an inevitable course of development, is righteous and what the people want. The motherland must and will be reunified,” Xi said in his speech on Tuesday.
“[We must] promote peaceful development of cross-strait ties, and resolutely prevent anyone from separating Taiwan from China in any way,” he added, a not-so-thinly veiled warning to the US.
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Xi, along with other top Chinese leaders, visited the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Tiananmen Square, where Mao’s body rests, and praised him as a “great patriot and national hero” during a subsequent speech at the Great Hall of the People. The president emphasized the continuation of Mao’s legacy of building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization.
“This is the unfinished work of the previous generation of revolutionaries like Mao Zedong,” Xi said, adding that “Reform and opening-up is a major reason why China has been able to catch up with the times at such an extraordinary pace.”
Nationwide commemorative events marked the anniversary, with celebrations in Mao’s hometown of Shaoshan and a symposium in Jinggangshan, where Mao first organized peasants and established a base for his armed struggle.
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