Beijing Sharpens Taiwan Rhetoric: A ‘Longer-Term’ Strategy for Annexation
London-UK, November 12, 2025
China Sharpens Taiwan Language: Beijing’s ‘Longer-Term’ Annexation Strategy
The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has visibly sharpened its language on Taiwan, deploying a coordinated barrage of official statements, state media articles, and propaganda images that analysts agree signal a significant and troubling adjustment in Beijing’s “longer-term” strategy for annexing the democratically governed island.
The new communications strategy moves beyond routine military threats and instead focuses on psychologically preparing both domestic and international audiences for the concept of Taiwan’s absorption into the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
This orchestrated shift—which also included the controversial designation of a new national holiday—is seen as part of an intensified campaign designed to ‘Hong Kong-ify and Macau-ify Taiwan’ in the international arena, effectively aiming to eliminate Taipei’s sovereign standing over the next two to three years.
Key Headlines
Propaganda Offensive:
The campaign includes ultra-high-definition satellite photos of the island captioned as “Taiwan Province, China,” asserting total sovereignty under the “Jilin-1” satellite’s perspective.
‘Patriots’ to Rule:
New explanatory articles in state media detail that after “reunification,” Taiwan would be governed by vetted, pro-China “patriots” under a rigid “one country, two systems” framework, mirroring the erosion of liberties in Hong Kong.
National Holiday:
The CCP designated a new national holiday, ostensibly to celebrate a historical event related to the island, an action viewed by Taipei as another deliberate attempt to reinforce Beijing’s long-standing sovereignty claim.
Sovereignty Target:
Taiwan’s National Security Bureau head strongly condemned the articles, stating their primary political objective is to eliminate Taiwan’s sovereignty and diminish its international standing.
The shift comes at a time of rising cross-strait tensions, following the election of a pro-sovereignty government in Taiwan and increasing engagement between Taipei and Washington.
For decades, Beijing’s official stance has maintained the option of using force for “reunification” but often tempered this with the hope for a “peaceful” outcome.
The latest campaign, however, focuses less on the means and more on the inevitability of annexation, leveraging both historical revisionism and future governance planning to cement its narrative.
One of the most striking elements of the new strategy is the concerted effort to outline Taiwan’s future under CCP rule.
State media published detailed explanatory articles promising “peace and economic prosperity” after unification, while simultaneously issuing a chilling warning:
the risks of war caused by “Taiwan independence” secessionists will be removed, and “external interference will be prevented.”
Crucially, the articles stipulate that Taiwan would be administered under the “one country, two systems” model—the same formula that has fundamentally curtailed political freedoms and democratic institutions in Hong Kong since 2020.
This model promises a degree of autonomy but explicitly subordinates local governance to central control from Beijing, a concept overwhelmingly rejected by the Taiwanese public.
Taiwanese officials have not been slow to respond to the media offensive. The head of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau condemned the articles and public statements, noting that they reveal a clear political objective:
to isolate Taiwan internationally and eliminate its sovereignty. He explicitly referred to the tactic as an attempt to “Hong Kong-ify and Macau-ify Taiwan,” suggesting a deliberate plan to strip the island of its democratic identity and align its political structure with that of the two former European colonies that now operate under Beijing’s strict control.
Further solidifying its claim, the Chinese Embassy in the US published ultra-high-definition satellite images of the island, asserting that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”
The use of high-tech imagery reinforces the narrative of seamless, administrative control, presenting the island as merely another province under the central government’s gaze.
This ‘longer-term adjustment’ in policy signals that Beijing is now engaging in a protracted, multi-dimensional struggle to win the narrative war before a military one. By focusing on internal Chinese audiences, the campaign reinforces the CCP’s commitment to its “historic mission” of national rejuvenation—which includes the complete absorption of Taiwan.
For the international community, the messaging is a warning shot: that China views any diplomatic or military support for Taiwan as interference in a domestic affair that is already being resolved through peaceful, if coercive, means.
The ultimate goal is to erode international consensus on the Taiwan Strait status quo, allowing Beijing to take future, more decisive actions with minimal global backlash.
This carefully calibrated propaganda offensive underscores a rising, non-military form of aggression that poses an immediate threat to the region’s stability and Taiwan’s democratic future.
