Zhang Weiwei, Director of the China Institute at Fudan University and an advisor to senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership, delivered a speech at Wuhan University on May 16. In response to a student’s question about cross-strait conflict, he reiterated that “the timing for resolving the Taiwan issue is becoming increasingly ripe.” Zhang stated that, based on the current situation, “everything is already in place,” and from another perspective, there might not even be a next election in Taiwan. (Note: Taiwan’s next election will be in year 2028).
Zhang asserted that the President of Taiwan “is not even as powerful as a district Party secretary in Shanghai.” Despite the rise of anti-CCP sentiment in Taiwan under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, he believes that mainland China can still influence the younger generation in Taiwan through popular platforms like Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
“They are increasingly influenced by the mainland,” Zhang said. Given this, he believes that once China achieves its goal of reunification, governing Taiwan – whether through “One Country, Two Systems” or via the model of an autonomous region/administrative region – will be much easier than governing Hong Kong. He bluntly claimed that “Taiwan independence ideology has no roots,” and added that if the people of Taiwan refuse to accept “One Country, Two Systems,” then it would simply become “One Country, One System.”
Source: China News, May 26, 2025
https://news.creaders.net/china/2025/05/26/2872986.html