BEIJING, March 18 (Reuters) – China said on Wednesday it would provide energy stability to Taiwan if it agrees to Beijing’s rule, part of a campaign to convince Taiwan of the benefits of “unification” which it has long rejected.
During the wars in the Middle East, governments around the world scrambled for alternative energy supplies and cut off shipping lanes in the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Taiwan, which gets a third of its LNG from Qatar and does not get energy from China, said it had secured alternative supplies in the coming months, including from the island’s main international backer, the United States.
Chen Binhua, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters in Beijing that “peaceful reunification” will better protect Taiwan’s energy and resource security and is backed by a “strong motherland.”
In response to a question about Taiwan’s energy supply during the Middle East war, he said: “We are willing to provide stable and reliable energy resource guarantees to Taiwan compatriots so that they can live a better life.”
There was no immediate response to comment from Taiwan’s government, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.
Speaking at a meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te reiterated that energy supplies are guaranteed this month and next year and that more U.S. natural gas will be imported from June.
“Taiwan has adopted a diversified, multi-source strategic approach to energy imports,” Lai said, according to a party statement.
China has long offered Taiwan “one country, two systems” autonomy if it agrees to accept control from Beijing, but without the support of any of Taiwan’s major political parties.
In October, China’s official Xinhua News Agency listed the advantages Taiwan would enjoy if it was “unified”, including economic support, but said the island must be run by “patriots.”
China has never given up the use of force to control Taiwan.
China, the world’s top oil importer, last week banned fuel exports until at least the end of March to prevent domestic shortages, limiting exports totaling $22 billion last year, sources said.
(Reporting by newsroom in Beijing; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Michael Perry)
