'No one can stop' unification with Taiwan
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan July 3, 2024. Sputnik/Pavel Volkov/PHOTO via REUTERS
China's President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that "no one can stop" unification with Taiwan, as he addressed the nation in a New Year's speech.
"Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can sever our blood ties, and no one can stop the historical trend of the reunification of the motherland," Xi said in a speech broadcast on state media.
Xi's comments come just weeks before Donald Trump takes office in the US.
Taiwan is a key point of contention between Beijing and Washington, which does not officially recognise Taiwan diplomatically but is its strategic ally and largest supplier of weapons.
The US-China relationship may sour further after Trump is inaugurated on January 20.