Xi Jinping's Recent Speech and Military Drills
Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year's speech included a stern message about Taiwan, emphasizing that China's reunification with the island is inevitable and unstoppable. To underline this position, China’s military, specifically the People's Liberation Army Navy, conducted a series of military drills near Taiwan's Kinmen and Matsu islands. These islands, which are closer to mainland China than to Taiwan, are symbolic of the long-standing territorial dispute between China and Taiwan. While these islands are technically under Taiwanese control, the proximity to China has always made them a strategic target for Beijing's attempts to assert its dominance over Taiwan. Despite their geographical closeness, China has failed to secure these islands in past military confrontations.

Historical Context: The Chinese Civil War and the Formation of Two Chinas
The roots of the current tensions between China and Taiwan lie in the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). Before the war, China was a democratic republic led by the Kuomintang (KMT), but after the victory of Mao Zedong's communist forces in 1949, the KMT retreated to Taiwan, continuing to claim legitimacy as the government of China. This split resulted in the formation of two separate political entities: the People's Republic of China (PRC), a communist state on the mainland, and the Republic of China (ROC), a democratic government based in Taiwan. While China, under the leadership of the PRC, considers Taiwan a breakaway province, Taiwan continues to maintain its sovereignty, with its own government, military, and constitution. This long-standing division remains unresolved, despite multiple attempts by China to reassert control over Taiwan.

The Battle of Kinmen: A Decisive Moment in the Taiwan-China Conflict
The Battle of Kinmen, also known as the Battle of Guningtou, took place towards the end of the Chinese Civil War, in 1949. As part of its strategy to eventually conquer Taiwan, China targeted the Kinmen and Matsu islands, which are closer to the mainland. The Chinese forces, aiming to overwhelm the Taiwanese garrison, launched a large-scale attack on Kinmen, assuming that Taiwan’s forces would be demoralized after their defeat on the mainland. However, Taiwan’s military had prepared extensively for such an assault, laying down landmines, fortifying positions, and deploying tanks and machine guns. The result was a resounding defeat for the Chinese forces. Despite initial heavy casualties, Taiwanese forces repelled the Chinese assault and held onto Kinmen, with many Chinese soldiers taken as prisoners of war. The failure of this attack was a significant blow to China’s ambitions of reuniting Taiwan with the mainland, and the island's defense solidified Taiwan’s position in the years that followed.