Chinese President Xi Jinping says Taiwan 'reunification' must happen as history cannot be stopped

BREAKING: Xi Jinping says Taiwan 'reunification' must happen because history cannot be stopped, calling it an 'unwavering historical mission' of China's Communist Party.

Xi Jinping says Taiwan reunification must happen, because history cannot be stopped.

The Chinese president called it an unwavering historical mission of the Communist Party, some of the most direct language he has used on Taiwan in months. These pictures show the formal party proceedings in Beijing where the message was delivered, with the full weight of the leadership behind it.

Taipei has heard versions of this before, but the framing matters. Calling reunification a mission of the party itself ties Xi's own legitimacy to the outcome, and leaders who stake their legacy on something tend not to let it drift. Taiwan's government maintains that only its twenty three million people can decide their future, and you can see the island's capital here, the place this entire question revolves around.

Washington, Tokyo and every market desk in Asia will read these words closely. When Beijing says history cannot be stopped, the real question is on what timetable.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.