Beijing’s policy advisers map out how post-reunification Taiwan could be governed
In 2019, President Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to publicly call for the exploration of detailed proposals for governing Taiwan after reunification. Seven years later, the first proposals from a handful of the mainland’s leading research institutes have either been finalised or are nearing completion, the South China Morning Post has learned. Rather than setting out a single fixed…
In 2019, President Xi Jinping publicly expressed interest in exploring detailed proposals for governing Taiwan after reunification. In the past seven years, leading mainland research institutes have either finalized or are nearing completion of their first proposals, which vary based on the method of reunification. According to Chen Xiancai, a Taiwan affairs professor at Xiamen University, peaceful reunification would grant Taiwan the largest scope of autonomy under Beijing’s "one country, two systems" framework.
Chen believes that earlier engagement with the mainland would provide Taiwan with more bargaining power and greater autonomy. Another scenario Chen considers "highly viable" is applying pressure through political, military, and international channels to force Taiwan into reunification talks. Despite not representing official policy, Chen thinks some of these measures have already been employed in recent years, with a blockade of the island not being ruled out.
The studies led by Chen, the director of Xiamen University's Centre for Taiwan Studies, are among the research projects undertaken by mainland scholars since Xi's speech. These projects, which have not been published, build upon the "one country, two systems" model, originally formulated by Deng Xiaoping for the Taiwan question.
Under this model, Taiwan could retain its existing economic and social systems and enjoy a high degree of autonomy after reunification. Beijing has not publicly discussed its governance plans since 2019, but Tsinghua University and Xiamen University have finalized their studies this year, with Peking University close to completion.
The scholars involved in these studies believe that the circumstances surrounding reunification would determine Taiwan's autonomy, with peaceful reunification offering a greater scope of power compared to a "compelled reunification," which could result in a Hong Kong or Macau-style model or even less autonomy.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
