By People’s Daily

Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China’s complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. It is indispensable for the realization of China’s rejuvenation. It is also a historic mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The CPC, the Chinese government, and the Chinese people have striven for decades to achieve this goal.

Against the backdrop of global changes unseen in a century, China’s cause of complete national reunification is facing new challenges. On Aug. 10, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published a white paper titled “The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era,” which reiterated the fact that Taiwan is part of China, demonstrated the resolve of the CPC and the Chinese people and their commitment to national reunification, and emphasized the position and policies of the CPC and the Chinese government in the new era.

The CPC and the Chinese government have the strength and the confidence to deal with complexities and overcome risks and threats, and the ability to take great strides forward on the path to national reunification.

The course the CPC has taken,the achievements it has made and the experience it has accumulated in resolving the Taiwan question and realizing national reunification have fully demonstrated that the CPC has always been the spine of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, exercising strong leadership in realizing national rejuvenation and reunification.

After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Chinese nation has achieved a historic transformation from standing upright to becoming prosperous and growing in strength, and national rejuvenation is driven by an unstoppable force. This marks a new starting point for reunification.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, the CPC and the Chinese government have adopted new and innovative measures in relation to Taiwan. They have continued to chart the course of cross-Straits relations, safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, and promote progress towards national reunification.

“The Taiwan question arose as a result of weakness and chaos in our nation, and it will be resolved as national rejuvenation becomes a reality,” said Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. The realization of complete national reunification is driven by the history and culture of the Chinese nation and determined by the momentum towards and circumstances surrounding China’s national rejuvenation.

China’s development and progress, and in particular the steady increases in its economic power, technological strength, and national defense capabilities, are an effective curb against separatist activities and interference from external forces. They also provide broad space and great opportunities for cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation.

The CPC has united the Chinese people and led them in embarking on the new journey of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. The country has many strengths and favorable conditions for further development, and these have become the driving force for reunification. Never before has China been so close to, confident in, and capable of achieving the goal of national rejuvenation. The same is true when it comes to its goal of complete national reunification.

There is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. This is an indisputable fact supported by history and the law. Taiwan has never been a state; its status as part of China is unalterable.

However, in recent years, the Taiwan authorities, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have redoubled their efforts to divide the country, and some external forces have tried to exploit Taiwan to contain China, prevent the Chinese nation from achieving complete reunification, and halt the process of national rejuvenation.

Recently, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, in total disregard of the firm opposition and repeated representations of the Chinese side and with the condonement and even arrangement of the U.S. government, went ahead with the visit to China’s Taiwan region.

This reckless move seriously undermined China’s sovereignty, seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs, seriously violated the commitments made by the U.S. side, and seriously jeopardized peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

In response to this, the Chinese government has taken firm countermeasures to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and fight against external interference and separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence,” gaining widespread support from members of the international community who uphold justice.

Facts have proven again that the will of the people cannot be defied and those who play with fire will eventually get burnt. The wheel of history rolls on towards national reunification, and it will not be stopped by any individual or any force. Relying on external forces will achieve nothing for Taiwan’s separatists, and using Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail.

The future of Taiwan lies in China’s reunification, and the wellbeing of the people in Taiwan hinges on the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In the new era of national reunification, the CPC and the Chinese government, taking into consideration the overall goal of national rejuvenation in the context of global change on a scale unseen in a century, have continued to follow the CPC’s fundamental guidelines on the Taiwan question and upheld the basic principle of Principles of “peaceful reunification” and “one country, two systems,” promoted peaceful cross-Straits relations