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The possible use of force against Taiwan by the Communist Party of China (CPC) has become a matter of global concern. The COVID-19 epidemic first broke out in Wuhan, in China, and developed into a global pandemic in 2020. This fueled anti-China sentiments in various countries. Taiwan fulfilled its responsibilities in pandemic prevention internationally by donating surgical masks to support more than 80 countries that were affected by COVID-19 (Department of Policy Planning 2022). The successive visits to Taiwan by US officials like Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar II and Under Secretary of State Keith Krach highlight Taiwan’s increasingly important role in US-China relations (Qin 2020a, 2020b). The CPC branded Taiwan’s cooperation in pandemic prevention with other countries as “attempting to seek independence by exploiting the issue of vaccines” (Li 2020). The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to conduct live ammunition exercises. Fighter jets continue to either cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait or enter the airspace to the southeast of Taiwan, which constitutes gray zone warfare against Taiwan (Lee, Lague, and Blanchard 2020). Even if the US intervenes, CPC leaders are confident that they will achieve unification of Taiwan and China through military force (Mastro 2021), and that it may happen within the next six years (Shelbourne 2021). US think tanks and the UK media have warned that Taiwan is the most dangerous flashpoint in the world (Blackwill and Zelikow 2021; The Economist 2021). The CPC has always adopted a carrot-and-stick approach toward Taiwan (Keng and Schubert 2010; Tan 2014). It is worth examining whether it has abandoned the options outside unification through military force.
Cross-strait integration is a path to achieving Xi’s scheme of unification. In contrast to the unease generated by the abovementioned international opinions, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee recommended promoting the development of cross-strait integration and supporting Fujian Province in its exploration of new paths to this end (Xinhua 2020b). In 2014, Xi proposed to promote the development of cross-strait integration, and hoped to achieve unification through economic and social integration against a backdrop of mutual admiration (Li 2017). Xi’s (2017) report to the 19th CPC National Congress introduced specific measures for cross-strait integration, which involved providing the people of...