Beijing Taiwan policy update removes vow not to send troops to island

Beijing has rescinded a pledge not to send troops to Taiwan if it takes control of the self-governing island and accused the US of trying to “undermine Chinas development and progress” in a new policy document.

The big picture: Beijing’s first white paper on Taiwan since President Xi Jinping came to power comes days after China’s military held live ammunition drills near the democratically run island in protest at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.

• In the papertitled “The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era” that was published Wednesday, Beijing alleges that “a small number of countries, the US foremost among them,” are “using Taiwan to contain China.”

Flashback: The previous two policy documents on Taiwan that the ruling Chinese Communist Party issued in 1993 and 2000 both stated that it “will not send troops or administrative personnel to be based in Taiwan” in its planned “reunification” of the island it regards as a breakaway province, per Reuters.

• Beijing had previously stated that Taipei would see a “one country, two systems” structure similar to that in the former British colony of Hong Kong when it was handed back to China in 1997, Reuters notes.

Of note: Hong Kong has since seen its once-lauded political freedoms curtailed, with Beijing’s national security law cracking down on the democracy movement and independent media in the Asian financial hub in recent years.

What they’re saying: Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council dismissed the white paper as “lies” and “wishful thinking,” Reuters reports.

• “Only Taiwan’s 23 million people have the right to decide on the future of Taiwan, and they will never accept an outcome set by an autocratic regime,” the council added.

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