Chinese President Xi Jinping used a New Year’s Eve address broadcast by Chinese state media to praise China’s technological progress and renew his pledge to annex self-ruled Taiwan, according to a report by The Associated Press.
In the Wednesday evening remarks, Xi hailed China’s advances in areas including artificial intelligence and semiconductors, while praising progress in sectors such as military technology and space exploration.
State media accompanied the speech with images, including footage of humanoid robots performing kung fu and visuals tied to new hydropower projects, the report said.
Xi also said, “We sought to energize high-quality development through innovation,” while thanking Chinese people for contributing to China’s economic growth over the past five years.
The address also touched on how China organizes its economic planning. The country plans its economic development over five-year periods and is preparing to discuss its new five-year plan at the legislative session in March, the report said.
Xi said China plans to speed up self-reliance in science and technology as the United States imposes increasingly tight controls on access to semiconductors and other high-tech items, according to the AP account.
On China’s international role, Xi praised the country’s rising prominence on the world stage by listing high-level political events and exchanges it hosted over the past year, the report said.
Regarding Taiwan, which China considers sovereign territory and which Taiwan governs as a self-ruled democracy, Xi reiterated Beijing’s annexation intentions. He said, “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a bond of blood and kinship.”
Xi added, “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.”
The renewed Taiwan pledge came as China conducted two days of military drills around Taiwan this week, launching rockets and sending aircraft and warships in response to a planned U.S. arms sale to the island, according to the report.
In turn, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te delivered his own New Year’s address on Thursday, pledging to resist China’s “expansionist ambitions” and bolster the island’s self-defense, the AP said.