(Bloomberg) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the province directly across from Taiwan after the military he leads conducted more major exercises aimed at ratcheting up pressure on the Taipei government.
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Xi made the trip to Fujian’s Dongshan County on Tuesday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The report made no mention of the exercises, but Dongshan is remembered in China as the site of a communist victory in their civil war against the Nationalists in the mid-20th century.
Xi learned “about local efforts to promote rural revitalization across the board, carry on revolutionary traditions and strengthen the protection of cultural heritage,” the report said on Wednesday.
The timing of Xi’s trip to Fujian, which has cultural ties to Taiwan, likely suggests he was sending a message about his determination to eventually bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control, using force if necessary.
The visit came a day after the People’s Liberation Army held maneuvers around Taiwan, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, as a warning against “separatist” activities. The exercises, which saw a record number of warplanes cross a sensitive border between the sides, drew criticism from Taiwan and the US, the main military backer of democracy.
The US government has expressed concerns about military actions with Beijing, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday after talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Seoul. Japan also told China it was concerned about the situation and sent out fighter jets.
It was the second time China has carried out major maneuvers around Taiwan since Lai came to power in May. The PLA held similar exercises — which also appeared to rehearse a blockade of Taiwan’s main island — twice toward the end of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen’s term as she met with top U.S. lawmakers.
In a move likely to further irritate Beijing, Tsai is expected to visit the US in the coming weeks, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with her travel plans. Immediately after the latest exercises, the Chinese military said it will respond when “provoked.”
When asked about Tsai’s possible trip, a spokesperson for the government department in Beijing that handles Taiwan-related matters said China opposes countries where it has ties to official exchanges with Taipei – a comment made even though they left office about five months ago.
“We also urge the US not to send unlawful signals to Taiwan’s independence forces,” spokesman Chen Binhua said at a regular briefing.
Beijing refused to do business with Tsai during her eight years as president, as she refused to endorse a framework that says both sides of the strait are part of China, and instead worked to build ties with democracies across the world.
She is now doing this more in Europe during a trip that started in the Czech Republic and will stop at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Chen also criticized Lai for promoting a “new two-state theory,” referring to the president saying in his speech last week that neither side of the Taiwan Strait was subordinate to the other.
–With help from Soo-Hyang Choi.
(Adds comment from US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell)
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