Reports indicate that in April of last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, that “The U.S. is trying to provoke China to attack Taiwan.”
On the 15th, the Financial Times (FT) cited multiple sources and reported that Xi told von der Leyen, “The U.S. is trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but we will not fall for such a scheme.” Xi said that a conflict with the U.S. would destroy many of China’s achievements and hinder his goal of realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation by 2049. The FT noted that this is the first time where such claims from Xi to a foreign leader have been reported, offering insight into Xi’s thoughts on Taiwan, the biggest challenge in U.S.-China relations.
In response, Jude Blanchette, an expert on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), criticized Xi’s stance saying, “If Xi truly believes that the U.S. is actively pursuing a conflict with China over Taiwan, he is either in an information vacuum where accurate information is not being delivered, or there are concerns that he is receiving bad advice from his subordinates.” Similarly, Bonnie Glaser, an expert on China at the German Marshall Fund (GMF), suggested that Xi’s remarks could be part of an attempt to prevent Europe from siding with the U.S. on the Taiwan issue.
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