Monday, July 16, 2018

China Plays 'Good Cop - Bad Cop' On Taiwan

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Xi Jinping Monday met with visiting Honorary Chairman of the Kuomintang Lien Chan in the Great Hall of the People. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

SCMP: Chinese President Xi Jinping takes pacifying line on Taiwan as hawks call for force

Xi steers clear of harsh rhetoric in talks with former KMT chairman Lien Chan to appeal to the Taiwanese public, analysts say

Chinese President Xi Jinping has struck a more conciliatory note in his latest meeting with a former senior Taiwanese politician in a bid to pacify the island’s public, as voices grow on the mainland to reunify the two sides of the strait by force, analysts said.

In a meeting in Beijing on Friday with Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan’s mainland-friendly Kuomintang, Xi said: “We have the confidence and ability to keep a firm hold on the correct direction, work for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and advance the process toward the peaceful reunification of China.”

The tone was a contrast to more hawkish mainland voices that have grown louder as the United States has stepped up intervention on Taiwan over the past few months and tensions have simmered between Taipei’s pro-independence administration and Beijing.

Observers in Beijing and Taipei said Xi was trying to tone down the rhetoric and stop it from having a real impact on cross-strait relations.

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WNU Editor: There has always been a vocal group in China that has been calling for the invasion of Taiwan for a long time. But they have gone waaayyyy over the top in the past few months. It looks like Chinese President Xi is reigning them in.

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