Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 13 at a plenary session of the Russian Energy Week forum that China is a powerful economic power that can achieve its goals without the use of force, Chinese media reported, citing the Russian news agency TASS on October 13.
“According to my understanding of the Chinese philosophy, including nation-building and management, it has nothing to do with the use of force,” Putin said. “In my opinion, China does not need to use force. China is an economic powerhouse that has surpassed the United States as the world’s top economy in terms of purchasing power parity. Through its growing economic potential, China is able to achieve its national goals.”
Putin stressed that he has not seen any threats that would lead China to use force to solve the Taiwan issue.
It is worth mentioning that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on December 12 that Russia considers Taiwan to be a part of the People’s Republic of China and will take this as the starting point in its policy.
As for the South China Sea, Putin said that all controversial issues arising in the South China Sea should be resolved by regional countries without the intervention of major powers outside the region.
However, Putin’s claim that China will peacefully reunify Taiwan was widely refuted and ridiculed on the Chinese internet.
One Chinese netizen sarcastically said: “Yes, Crimea was recovered peacefully.” Others said that there is never a peaceful solution to territorial issues, and giving up on armed reunification would be tantamount to no reunification.
As hopes for peaceful reunification grow dimmer, it is widely believed that mainland China will use force to achieve national reunification, including by former KMT chairman Hung Hsiu-chu in Taiwan.