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Song Tao's message, which comes less than two week's before
Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan.
13, follows President Xi Jinping's remarks in his New Year Eve's
address that China's "reunification" with Taiwan was inevitable.
"The motherland will eventually be reunified, and it will
inevitably be reunified," Song said in his New Year's message on
his office's website.
This is the common desire and common mission of people on both
sides of the Taiwan Strait, Song added.
Taiwan's people should "promote cross-strait relations to return
to the right track of peaceful development, and promote the
process of peaceful reunification of the motherland", he said.
Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims. Both the
ruling Democratic Progressive Party and largest opposition
party, the Kuomintang, say only Taiwan's people can decide their
future.
China has offered Taiwan a "one country, two systems" model of
autonomy, but no mainstream Taiwanese party supports that idea.
Song reiterated China's support for "one country, two systems"
and opposition to Taiwan's formal independence or "interference
by external forces".
His message made no mention of the election, which the Taiwan
Affairs Office has cast as a choice between war and peace.
China has continued military pressure around the island, ended
some tariff cuts for Taiwan and threatened further economic
measures as the vote has neared.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Ben Blanchard in
Taipei and Albee Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle)
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