Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China: Xi Jinping warns Biden

Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned his US counterpart Joe Biden that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China but that the timing has not yet been decided, NBC News reported.

NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC.

Xi warned Biden during their recent summit in San Francisco, according to three current and former US officials.

In a group meeting attended by a dozen American and Chinese officials, Xi told Biden that China’s preference is to take Taiwan peacefully, not by force, the officials said.

The Chinese president also referenced public predictions by US military leaders who say that Xi plans to take Taiwan in 2025 or 2027, telling Biden that they were wrong because he has not set a time frame, according to two current and one former official briefed on the meeting.

Chinese officials also asked in advance of the summit that Biden make a public statement after the meeting saying that the US supports China’s goal of peaceful unification with Taiwan and does not support Taiwanese independence. The White House rejected the Chinese request reported NBC News.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment.

The revelations provide previously unreported details about a critical meeting between the two leaders that was intended to reduce tensions between their countries, according to NBC News.

Xi’s private warning to Biden, while not markedly different from his past public comments on reunifying Taiwan, got the attention of US officials because it was delivered at a time when China’s behaviour towards Taiwan is seen as increasingly aggressive and ahead of a potentially pivotal presidential election in the self-governing democratic island next month.

First Published: Dec 21 2023 | 8:28 AM IST