Radio France International (November 9) reported that In an article published in the state media People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper, the former Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, Wang Zaixi said, “It may be difficult to achieve the purpose of reunification across the strait if we do not use military force and rely solely on political negotiations, non-governmental exchanges, and unconditionally making compromises.” Justifying this, he said it is because the situation in Taiwan has undergone fundamental changes and that the possibility of peaceful reunification is diminishing. In his view, the “Taiwan independence” forces have already taken a strong hold in Taiwan and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which advocates “Taiwan independence, has taken the stage and fully grasped power in Taiwan. The Kuomintang (KMT), which opposes “Taiwan independence,” has lost its ability to check and balance the issue. Wang Zaixi proposed the “Peking Mode”  as a third option. The so-called “Peking Mode” is also a warfare choice, where reunification is achieved through using military force as a threat and winning the war without a battle. “This mode can minimize casualties and reduce costs.” “The Peking Mode” got its name from the Battle of Pingjin during the Chinese civil war between 1948 and 1949, when the Chinese Communist’s military surrounded the city of Peking (today’s Beijing) and forced the 250,000 KMT troops to surrender. Recalling that when Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected the Navy a few days ago, he said “We must put all our minds and energy on preparing for a war and maintain a high level of alertness,” Wang Zaixi interpreted this remark as a threat to the DPP government. Wang Zaixi declared that mainland China now basically has the strength and conditions to resolve the Taiwan issue.

(Comment: Wang Zaixi had also commented in December 2019 on when and how to “solve the Taiwan issue.” He had then said “If the KMT had won the election, cross-strait relations would ease, but reunification will take more time. If the DPP continues to govern, the cross-strait relations will intensify, but it may accelerate the reunification process.”)