(TibetanReview.net, Jan01’26) – President Xi Jinping of China has said only the Communist Party of China (CPC) can make the country strong. He has called what he sees as an eventual reunification of the motherland an unstoppable trend of the times, referring to Taiwan. He has added that the “one country, two systems” should be unswervingly implemented on Hong Kong and Macao, although the democratic promises underlying it now lies in tatters.
As the year 2025 came to a close, Xi has also said in his New Year eve address, “Our economic strength, scientific and technological abilities, defense capabilities, and composite national strength all reached new heights.”
In this connection, Xi, 72, has highlighted the construction of the world’s largest dam, worth $170 billion, over the Brahmaputra river, which is highly controversial for its location in an ecologically fragile and seismically active zone and for its potential for use as a hydrological weapon against downstream India with which it has decades-old, often confrontational boundary disputes as a result of its armed annexation of Tibet in the middle of the last century.
“Construction of the hydropower project at the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra river) started,” he said, referring to the Brahmaputra dam construction in Tibet’s Metog county, which shares border with India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, which also China claims on the basis of its occupation of Tibet.
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Xi’s address also came as China concluded on Dec 31 a two-day massive, live-fire military drill to intimidate the self-governing island of Taiwan against making any formal declaration of independence and as a warning against the USA for selling it arms, including a package worth $11.1 Billion most recently, which it bitterly criticized.
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has long vowed to annex it, including by using force, if necessary. It is the island where the nationalist Kuomintang fled after losing to the communists in a civil war which led to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
China’s sixth military rehearsal since 2022 to blockade Taiwan involved the use of latest air force jets, numbering more than 200, as well as aircraft carriers, missiles and drones.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command successfully completed drills codenamed “Justice Mission 2025” around the Taiwan Island on Wednesday (Dec 31). The drills serve as a stern warning to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and external interference, and have shown China’s resolve and capabilities to safeguard its sovereignty and national unity, said China’s official chinadailyasia.com Jan 1.
The drills focused on subjects of sea-air combat readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockade of key ports and areas, as well as all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain, Shi Yi, spokesman for the theater command, has said.
Taiwan vowed to defend its sovereignty in the face of China’s overwhelming projection of of military power.
“The international community is watching to see whether the Taiwanese people possess the resolve to defend themselves,” france24.com Jan 1 quoted President Lai Ching-te as saying in a New Year’s speech broadcast live from the presidential office in Taipei.
He urged opposition parties to support his proposal to increase Taiwan’s defence spending by $40 billion, a plan currently stalled amid a political deadlock in the opposition-controlled parliament.
“The coming year, 2026, will be a crucial one for Taiwan,” he has added, saying the island must “make plans for the worst, but hope for the best”.
Xi has also strongly defended the CPC rule in China. The Party exercised strict self-governance through credible measures, and promoted self-revolution to fight corruption and advance healthy governance, state news agency XinhuaDec 31 cited him as saying.
“Only a strong Communist Party of China can make our country strong,” he has said in his message.