Xi comment on 'resolving' Taiwan raises concern, Taipei scholars say

  

Xi comment on 'resolving' Taiwan raises concern, Taipei scholars say

WASHINGTON -- Chinese leader Xi Jinping signaled a desire for peaceful coexistence with the U.S. when he met President Joe Biden last week, going so far as to say that there are no plans for a military attack on Taiwan in 2027 or 2035.
 
But while the overall assessment of the meeting was positive, James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Taipei-based research institute Academia Sinica, focused on one quote Xi mixed into his messaging. According to a senior U.S. official who briefed reporters after last Wednesday's summit, Xi insisted that Beijing's preference was for peaceful "reunification" with Taiwan, but added that "at some point, we need to move towards resolution more generally."
 
Lee told a Stimson Center seminar Monday, "That kind of statement ... it's something that would create concern in Taiwan."
 
Lee said it will come down to China's credibility among the Taiwanese people whether this will be seen as a positive step or potentially dangerous.
 
He pointed to a just-released survey by Academia Sinica in which only 9.3% of respondents agreed that China was a trustworthy country, while 55.3% disagreed. Perceptions of China's trustworthiness fell from 13.5% in a 2021 poll.