Gordon Chang

I think party elders, and these are former leaders, they haven't fared so well. So, for instance, if we go to October 2022, Communist Party's 20th National Congress. You see Hu Jintao, who was Xi Jinping's predecessor, being escorted out of the meeting. And Hu Jintao was only seen in public once since then.

That was at the funeral ceremony memorial service for Jiang Zemin, who was Hu Jintao's predecessor. But there are reports that Hu Jintao and his family have been detained. And I think that those reports are credible. So it hasn't gone very well for people who have expressed opposition to Xi Jinping.

That was at the funeral ceremony memorial service for Jiang Zemin, who was Hu Jintao's predecessor. But there are reports that Hu Jintao and his family have been detained. And I think that those reports are credible. So it hasn't gone very well for people who have expressed opposition to Xi Jinping.

That was at the funeral ceremony memorial service for Jiang Zemin, who was Hu Jintao's predecessor. But there are reports that Hu Jintao and his family have been detained. And I think that those reports are credible. So it hasn't gone very well for people who have expressed opposition to Xi Jinping.

As I said, nobody really likes him because, you know, among other things, he has denied opportunities for other people. You know, under the Communist Party's system, before Xi Jinping took over, he was going to have a 10-year term at the top, and then somebody else would step in.

As I said, nobody really likes him because, you know, among other things, he has denied opportunities for other people. You know, under the Communist Party's system, before Xi Jinping took over, he was going to have a 10-year term at the top, and then somebody else would step in.

As I said, nobody really likes him because, you know, among other things, he has denied opportunities for other people. You know, under the Communist Party's system, before Xi Jinping took over, he was going to have a 10-year term at the top, and then somebody else would step in.

Well, by getting an unprecedented third term, what he's done is he's prevented a whole slew of leaders from coming to the fore. They don't like that, of course, but they don't feel that they're in a position to actually oppose Xi Jinping. It's only the guys with the guns, People's Liberation Army, that actually feel that they can say what they want. So this is a fascinating situation.

Well, by getting an unprecedented third term, what he's done is he's prevented a whole slew of leaders from coming to the fore. They don't like that, of course, but they don't feel that they're in a position to actually oppose Xi Jinping. It's only the guys with the guns, People's Liberation Army, that actually feel that they can say what they want. So this is a fascinating situation.

Well, by getting an unprecedented third term, what he's done is he's prevented a whole slew of leaders from coming to the fore. They don't like that, of course, but they don't feel that they're in a position to actually oppose Xi Jinping. It's only the guys with the guns, People's Liberation Army, that actually feel that they can say what they want. So this is a fascinating situation.

Yeah, well, he called it reunification, which is incorrect because the People's Republic has never ruled Taiwan. And in fact, throughout all of history, No Chinese regime has ever held indisputable sovereignty to Taiwan. I can go and wonk out on you on that if you want, and I'd love to do that, but let me just put that to the side for a moment.

Yeah, well, he called it reunification, which is incorrect because the People's Republic has never ruled Taiwan. And in fact, throughout all of history, No Chinese regime has ever held indisputable sovereignty to Taiwan. I can go and wonk out on you on that if you want, and I'd love to do that, but let me just put that to the side for a moment.

Yeah, well, he called it reunification, which is incorrect because the People's Republic has never ruled Taiwan. And in fact, throughout all of history, No Chinese regime has ever held indisputable sovereignty to Taiwan. I can go and wonk out on you on that if you want, and I'd love to do that, but let me just put that to the side for a moment.

The problem for Xi Jinping is not only does he get his terms wrong, but he's wrong when he says that the reunification of Taiwan and the mainland is a trend of history and no one can stop it. Because as time, in fact, goes on, Taiwan and China are diverging. And you can see this most clearly in self-identification surveys. In the last big survey, which was done by the Pew Research Group,

The problem for Xi Jinping is not only does he get his terms wrong, but he's wrong when he says that the reunification of Taiwan and the mainland is a trend of history and no one can stop it. Because as time, in fact, goes on, Taiwan and China are diverging. And you can see this most clearly in self-identification surveys. In the last big survey, which was done by the Pew Research Group,

The problem for Xi Jinping is not only does he get his terms wrong, but he's wrong when he says that the reunification of Taiwan and the mainland is a trend of history and no one can stop it. Because as time, in fact, goes on, Taiwan and China are diverging. And you can see this most clearly in self-identification surveys. In the last big survey, which was done by the Pew Research Group,

This was from the middle of 2023. The results were 67% of the people in Taiwan viewed themselves as primarily Taiwanese. Only 3% viewed themselves as primarily Chinese. And the really bad news in all of this, because it gets worse for him, is that in the younger age cohort, those 18 to 34, the numbers are 83% Taiwanese, 1% Chinese.

This was from the middle of 2023. The results were 67% of the people in Taiwan viewed themselves as primarily Taiwanese. Only 3% viewed themselves as primarily Chinese. And the really bad news in all of this, because it gets worse for him, is that in the younger age cohort, those 18 to 34, the numbers are 83% Taiwanese, 1% Chinese.

This was from the middle of 2023. The results were 67% of the people in Taiwan viewed themselves as primarily Taiwanese. Only 3% viewed themselves as primarily Chinese. And the really bad news in all of this, because it gets worse for him, is that in the younger age cohort, those 18 to 34, the numbers are 83% Taiwanese, 1% Chinese.

So, if Xi Jinping wants to annex Taiwan, he's not going to be able to do it voluntarily. He's going to be able to do it by force, because the people in Taiwan, although of course they want good relations with China, they don't believe that they are Chinese. So, when Xi Jinping in his 2025 New Year's message says, oh, we are all one family, which is the term he used, well, I don't think so.