{"id":2704349,"date":"2026-11-14T00:45:59","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T05:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beijings-taiwan-reunification-dreams-are-fanciful\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T00:51:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T05:51:47","slug":"beijings-taiwan-reunification-dreams-are-fanciful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beijings-taiwan-reunification-dreams-are-fanciful\/","title":{"rendered":"Beijing\u2019s Taiwan \u2018Reunification\u2019 Dreams Are Fanciful"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbeijings-taiwan-reunification-dreams-are-fanciful%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2704349&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Despite summit-level efforts by Trump and Xi too keep Taiwan from souring relations, China still aims to absorb the island. Beijing mixes pressure on taiwan\u2019s pro\u2011independence DPP with outreach to the more moderate KMT, preferring \u201cpeaceful reunification\u201d to war. Its Hong Kong crackdown undermined that pitch and strengthened Taiwanese resistance. Most Taiwanese reject reunification and fear becoming a Beijing puppet, even among KMT supporters. The U.S. should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/imf-says-risks-to-financial-stability-have-increased-calls-for-vigilance\/\" title=\"IMF says risks to financial stability have increased, calls for vigilance\">monitor developments closely<\/a> but need not panic; political strategies alone are unlikely to secure Beijing\u2019s goal.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-blog-post__content s-wysiwyg s-wysiwyg--blog\">\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:30px;\" id=\"elevenlabs-audionative-widget\" data-height=\"90\" data-width=\"100%\" data-frameborder=\"no\" data-scrolling=\"no\" data-publicuserid=\"cb0d9922301244fcc1aeafd0610a8e90a36a320754121ee126557a7416405662\" data-playerurl=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/player\/index.html\" >Loading the <a href=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/text-to-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elevenlabs Text to Speech<\/a> AudioNative Player&#8230;<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/player\/audioNativeHelper.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>                            <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Both President Donald Trump and China\u2019s leader Xi Jinping have taken steps to prevent the Taiwan issue from becoming a major source of tension in bilateral relations. Their joint goal was especially evident during the two summit meetings between Trump and Xi this year. Despite Beijing\u2019s recent conciliatory approach, however, there is no indication that the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) has relinquished its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-what-each-of-bidens-42-executive-orders-will-actually-do\/\" title=\"Here\u2019s What Each Of Biden\u2019s 42 Executive Orders Will Actually Do\">long-term goal<\/a> of absorbing Taiwan and ending its status as a democratic, <em>de facto<\/em> independent state. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Xi\u2019s regime appears to be pursuing a two-pronged strategy to achieve that objective: Beijing sustains an uncompromising, sometimes even militarily menacing, policy toward the current Taiwanese government, which is controlled by the officially pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); at the same time, PRC officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/politics\/article\/3350271\/xi-jinping-stressed-patience-taiwan-reunification-talks-opposition-leader?mo\">drop abundant hints<\/a> that Beijing would be willing to adopt a less confrontational posture toward the DPP\u2019s more moderate rival, the Kuomintang Party (KMT) that last governed Taiwan from 2008 to 2016. Beijing has already extended political olive branches to the KMT leader Cheng Li-wun, especially during her visit to the mainland in April 2026. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/10\/06\/china-taiwan-political-peaceful-reunification\/\">October 6 article in <em>Foreign Policy<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em> Michael Poznansky, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Ian Easton, a senior nonresident fellow at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security, contend that U.S. leaders need to examine the possibility of a<\/p>\n<p>                         <!-- \/22404337467,3946880\/theamericanconservative-Leaderboard-Top -->                         <\/p>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1742316429780-0' style='min-width: 300px; min-height: 50px; max-width: 100%; '>                         <\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">bloodless annexation, whereby an elected government in Taipei concludes a treaty effectively ceding Taiwan\u2019s territory to the People\u2019s Republic of China. Such a strategy, known by euphemisms like \u201cwinning without fighting\u201d or \u201cpeaceful reunification,\u201d is Beijing\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/taiwan\/china-could-win-taiwan-without-fighting\">preferred outcome<\/a>. And Washington is unprepared for it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Xi and other PRC leaders undoubtedly would prefer to achieve Taiwan\u2019s reunification with the mainland through political and economic means. Using military force to do so would be highly dangerous and unpredictable. Indeed, such a course would probably lead to war with the United States and Japan, the island\u2019s principal military protectors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PRC leaders have long proposed the formula of \u201cone country, two systems\u201d as a model for reunification. Taiwan would become part of a reunited China, but it would not be controlled from Beijing. In essence, the promised one country, two systems arrangement is similar to the agreement that Chinese leaders signed in 1997 when possession of Hong Kong was transferred from Britain to the PRC. The provision for Hong Kong\u2019s political autonomy was even written into its Basic Law and guaranteed for 50 years. The one country, two systems model for Taiwan would include even greater promised autonomy, including on military affairs. Moreover, unlike the agreement regarding Hong Kong, current PRC policy does not specify an end date for Taiwan\u2019s autonomous status.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless, Beijing is unlikely to succeed in ending Taiwan\u2019s <em>de facto<\/em> independence solely through greater political and economic influence. Extensive damage to Beijing\u2019s credibility with the Taiwanese occurred when the PRC executed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/06\/29\/asia\/hong-kong-nsl-one-year-intl-hnk-dst\/\">security crackdown on Hong Kong in June 2020<\/a>. The territory\u2019s promised autonomy was so drastically narrowed as to become virtually meaningless. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/08\/world\/jimmy-lai-sentenced-hong-kong\">media mogul Jimmy Lai<\/a> and other vocal democracy activists subsequently received long prison sentences, and a suffocating atmosphere of coerced political conformity settled over the once ideologically vibrant city. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taiwan\u2019s population was watching, and most Taiwanese <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/commentary\/how-china-blew-its-chance-seduce-taiwan\">did not like what they saw<\/a>. Indeed, the Hong Kong lesson was a major factor in the DPP\u2019s subsequent surge in political power. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Granted, current President Lai Ching-te of the DPP has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/east-asia\/taiwans-lai-tied-up-by-political-chaos-after-year-in-office\">dissipated much of that gain<\/a> because of corruption within his administration, as well as his own authoritarian abuses. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taipeitimes.com\/News\/taiwan\/archives\/2026\/05\/21\/2003857708\">Many Taiwanese also worry<\/a> about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taipeitimes.com\/News\/feat\/archives\/2025\/06\/28\/2003839376\">Lai\u2019s extremely hardline, confrontational rhetoric<\/a> and policies toward Beijing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet there is a crucial difference between a growing desire by Taiwanese voters to rein in DPP excesses and a willingness to abandon Taiwan\u2019s status as a <em>de facto<\/em> independent country. Numerous opinion polls have confirmed that no more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taiwannews.com.tw\/news\/6395438\">a tiny percentage of Taiwanese favor reunification<\/a> with the totalitarian, one-party state across the strait. The hostile reaction to the PRC\u2019s crackdown on Hong Kong indicated that the Taiwanese are determined not to let their island suffer a similar fate. Even most KMT supporters do not want to see Taiwan become Beijing\u2019s puppet or their party to become subsumed into the PRC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Xi and other PRC leaders are content with seeing a more conciliatory, less confrontational government emerge in Taipei, they have a very good chance of achieving their objective. That benign outcome is especially likely if they are simultaneously willing to reduce the PRC\u2019s military presence in and around the Taiwan Strait.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But if they continue to press for reunification (even solely by peaceful means) they are likely to be disappointed. Indeed, even if Beijing pursued a more limited goal of transforming Taiwan into an obedient, albeit still nominally self-governing, client under the KMT, such an effort would likely fail. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/taiwan\/taiwan-doesnt-have-choose?check_logged_in=1\">March 3 <em>Foreign Affairs<\/em><\/a>  article, Cheng Li-wun, the KMT leader, conveyed her party\u2019s orientation rather pointedly:<\/p>\n<section class=\"c-subscribe-email\" >\n<div class=\"l-container\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__wrap\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__head\">\n<h4 class=\"c-subscribe-email__heading\">Subscribe Today<\/h4>\n<h5 class=\"c-subscribe-email__subheading\">Get daily emails in your inbox<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__form-wrap\">      <!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form -->      <\/p>\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup\">\n<form id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" class=\"validate\" action=\"https:\/\/theamericanconservative.us4.list-manage.com\/subscribe\/post?u=442e644c01f8e54e26e4ff3f8&#038;id=f7b67cac40\" method=\"post\" name=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" novalidate target=\"_blank\">\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup_scroll\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__fields\">              <label for=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"u-screenreader-text\">Email Address:<\/label>              <input id=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"c-subscribe-email__field\" name=\"EMAIL\" type=\"email\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"Your Email\" \/>              <input id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" class=\"c-subscribe-email__submit o-button o-button--red-500 o-button--solid\" name=\"subscribe\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe\" \/>            <\/div>\n<div id=\"mce-responses\" class=\"clear\">\n<div id=\"mce-error-response\" class=\"response\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mce-success-response\" class=\"response\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>              <!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups-->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"u-screenreader-text\" aria-hidden=\"true\">              <input tabindex=\"-1\" name=\"b_442e644c01f8e54e26e4ff3f8_f7b67cac40\" type=\"text\" value=\"\" \/>            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <!--End mc_embed_signup-->          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Beijing and Washington compete for influence in the Pacific, how Taiwan manages cross-strait relations affects whether the region remains peaceful and stable. Many observers assume that Taiwan must choose to align itself with one side or the other. But this binary framing is misleading. Taiwan is strongest when it preserves space to pursue its own needs, not when it becomes a frontline outpost for one country or a subordinate partner to the other.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is not a yawning gap between the views of most KMT leaders and those of the more sensible elements of the DPP regarding policy toward Beijing. Lai, though president, is among the more extreme (and sometimes recklessly assertive) pro-independence party activists. Voters may well reject that faction in the next national election in favor of the KMT, but such an outcome would not signal a popular mandate for Taipei to embrace an appeasement policy toward the PRC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is appropriate for U.S. policymakers to carefully monitor developments, but there is no need to panic nor to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >conjure improbable worst-case scenarios involving<\/a> a clever PRC ploy to conquer Taiwan via a political offensive.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Both U.S. President Donald Trump and China\u2019s Xi Jinping have worked to keep Taiwan from becoming a major source of friction in their relations, a joint aim evident during their two summit meetings this year. Even with Beijing\u2019s more conciliatory tone lately, the PRC appears determined to pursue reunification, using a two\u2011track approach: tighten pressure on Taiwan\u2019s current pro\u2011independence government (the DPP) while hinting at a more accommodating posture toward the KMT, which ruled Taiwan from 2008 to 2016. Beijing even reached out to KMT chair Cheng Li\u2011wun during her April 2026 visit to the mainland. In a Foreign Policy piece, Michael Poznansky and Ian Easton argue that Washington should consider a bloodless annexation scenario in which an elected Taipei government signs a treaty effectively ceding Taiwan to the PRC-a Beijing\u2011preferred outcome that the U.S. is not prepared for. Xi and other PRC leaders would rather achieve reunification through political and economic means; military force would be dangerous and could trigger war with the United States and Japan. Beijing has long floated \u201cone country, two systems\u201d as a model for Taiwan, similar to Hong Kong\u2019s 1997 handover, but Taiwan would enjoy even greater promised autonomy and, unlike Hong Kong, there\u2019s no end date to that autonomy. Nevertheless, Beijing cannot rely solely on political and economic pressure to end Taiwan\u2019s de facto independence, as the Hong Kong crackdown in 2020 damaged Beijing\u2019s credibility. The Hong Kong experience reinforced Taiwanese resistance to Beijing\u2019s approach, and Lai Ching\u2011te\u2019s DPP presidency has suffered from corruption and autocratic tendencies, though many Taiwanese still oppose reunification. Many KMT supporters likewise do not want Taiwan to become Beijing\u2019s puppet. If Xi is content with a more conciliatory Taipei and a reduced military presence around the Taiwan Strait, reunification through peaceful means could be feasible; if Beijing presses ahead, even a limited, nonmilitary path is unlikely to succeed. In Foreign Affairs, KMT leader Cheng Li\u2011wun argues that Taiwan should avoid a binary choice and preserve room to pursue its own interests. While Lai remains polarizing, most voters do not back an appeasement of the PRC, and U.S. policymakers should monitor developments without overreacting or assuming the worst\u2011case scenario of a PRC conquest via political means<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4497,"featured_media":2704350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/tac.imgix.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1189631604-scaled.jpg?auto=compress&#038;crop=faces%2Centropy&#038;fit=crop&#038;fm=jpg&#038;h=630&#038;ixlib=php-3.3.1&#038;q=80&#038;w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[4290,76096,32404,69840,9105],"class_list":["post-2704349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily","tag-beijing","tag-cross-strait-relations","tag-geopolitics","tag-reunification","tag-taiwan"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/tac.imgix.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1189631604-scaled.jpg?auto=compress&#038;crop=faces%2Centropy&#038;fit=crop&#038;fm=jpg&#038;h=630&#038;ixlib=php-3.3.1&#038;q=80&#038;w=1200","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2704349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2704354,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704349\/revisions\/2704354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2704350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2704349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2704349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2704349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}