Xi's Five Points (Chinese :习五条; pinyin :Xí Wǔtiáo) is a concept proposed by general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping regarding cross-strait relations. Proposed by Xi on 2 January 2019 in a speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan," it calls for Chinese unification under the one country, two systems formula.
On 2 January 2019, in a speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan," Xi Jinping called for "peaceful reunification with Taiwan" in accordance with the "one China principle" and the 1992 Consensus. [1] : 240 In Xi's view, the Taiwan issue emerged from China's weakness dating back to the Opium Wars and after World War II, the "two sides of the Taiwan straits fell into a special state of protracted political confrontation due to the civil war in China and the interferences of foreign forces." [1] : 240–241 Xi Jinping called on Taiwan to reject formal independence from China, saying: "We make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means." Those options, he said, could be used against "external interference." Xi also said that they "are willing to create broad space for peaceful reunification, but will leave no room for any form of separatist activities." [2] [3]
Xi's five point are as follows: [4]
In response to the speech, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not accept a one country, two systems arrangement with the mainland, while stressing the need for all cross-strait negotiations to be on a government-to-government basis. [5] She emphasized that she has never accepted the 1992 Consensus. [6] Tsai made a shift from not publicly accepting the 1992 Consensus to directly rejecting it, stating that there's no need to talk about the 1992 Consensus anymore, because this term has already been defined by Beijing as "one country, two systems." [7]