Chinese President Xi Jinping took a veiled shot at President Donald Trump on Tuesday during his nationalistic address to parliament regarding Taiwan. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping took a veiled shot at President Donald Trump on Tuesday during his nationalistic address to parliament regarding Taiwan.
Xi, speaking to nearly 3,000 members of the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress, declared that the Chinese people were “closer than at any time in history to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
"In the face of national righteousness and the tide of history, all attempts or tricks aimed at dividing the motherland are doomed to failure. All will receive the condemnation of the people and the punishment of history,” he said.
The Chinese people have the will and the ability to "foil all activities to divide the nation" and are unified in their belief that "every inch of our great motherland absolutely cannot and absolutely will not be separated from China," Xi added.
"All will receive the condemnation of the people and the punishment of history."
The confrontational comments came just days after Trump signed a new law allowing high-level officials visits to Taiwan – a move now condemned by Beijing at the highest levels of government.
“China is strongly opposed to that,” The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement on Saturday, according to AFP. “We urge the US side to correct its mistake, stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way.”
The Taiwan Travel Act, signed by the White House on Friday after it passed through Congress, encourages visits between US and Taiwanese officials “at all levels.”
Xi, speaking to nearly 3,000 members of the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress, declared that the Chinese people were “closer than at any time in history to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1979 because of the “one China’ policy. China sees Taiwan as its territory and has expressed a desire to reunify.
Xi, who convinced parliament to scrap term limits for the president and paved a way for him to rule indefinitely, also dismissed on Tuesday any accusations that China is a threat and seeks domination.
"China's development does not pose a threat to any country," he said. "Only those who habitually threaten others will look at everyone else as threats.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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