Beijing still wants peaceful unification with Taiwan even though it’s getting stronger, says former official

Former deputy of Taiwan Affairs Office tells state-owned magazine that Beijing has not ‘speeded up’ the timetable for unification since Nancy Pelosi’s visit

Sun Yafu says a series of drills after the US House speaker left the island shows that the PLA now has the ability to blockade Taiwan

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The PLA staged a series of drills around Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi’s visit. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:00pm, 17 Aug 2022

China’s response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan shows Beijing now has the ability to blockade the island, but the use of force is still the last resort, a senior former official has said.

The incident would not “speed up” the timetable for reunification, Sun Yafu, former deputy head of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told the state-owned magazine China Newsweek in an interview published on Tuesday.

Sun said Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan was not just a personal choice but showed that the US under Donald Trump and Joe Biden wanted to suppress and contain China.

In the days after Pelosi’s visit, the People’s Liberation Army staged a series of drills that encircled the island and sent planes and ships across the median line, a de facto boundary between the self-governed island and mainland China that both sides have largely honoured over the decades.

“The overall situation, equipment level, and technical capabilities that we have shown during the military blockade and control of Taiwan island will promote the formation of a new strategic situation, which will greatly benefit China’s reunification process. But it won’t speed up at once because of such a move,” he said.

“It is true that we are growing stronger and catching up with the United States. Our current economy is more than 70 per cent that of the United States, and 22 times that of Taiwan. Our military, financial, and technological strengths are also improving, but the strength of the United States is still very large.”

Citing a white paper on Taiwan released last week, Sun said the most important message was that Beijing would continue to push for a peaceful reunification.

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