Photo: Li Hao/GT

China's reunification is an irreversible trend and the only acceptable option for the Taiwan question, but it is not necessary that it will be achieved in a peaceful way, experts said at the annual forum of the Global Times in Beijing on Saturday.

Reunification is the general trend and can be expected soon. The mainland has the strength, conditions, and final say to achieve reunification and there's no space for separatism, Wang Zaixi, former deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said at the annual forum of the Global Times on Saturday.

Wang noted that the situation in the upcoming elections in Taiwan is complicated. If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wins and cross-Straits ties become more strained, the Chinese mainland may accelerate the process of reunification. 

Luo Yuan, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Strategic Culture Promotion Association, said at the annual forum that 2020 is the key year to resolve the Taiwan question since the general election will take place, but the vote should not disrupt the pace of the reunification process. Whichever party is elected, it dare not publicly claim separation or reunification.

Zhou Zhihuai, director of the academic board of the Taiwan and East Asia Research Center of Central China Normal University, said at the forum that if the Kuomingtang wins the election, the strained cross-Straits relations may be eased with the Chinese mainland and Taiwan expected to step up exchanges on economy, culture and livelihood. 

But if Tsai Ing-wen wins the election, the next four years will see more frictions and a new "winter" for cross-Straits ties, Zhou said. 

The only way to avoid non-peaceful means to achieve reunification is that the island puts forward its own reunification plan, Zhou said. 

Many experts on Taiwan studies believed it cannot be put off any longer. The turmoil in Hong Kong cannot be repeated in Taiwan, Luo Yuan said.

Reunification is the trend. Whether it will be achieved through peaceful means or in a turbulent manner will depend on Taiwan and US' policy on Taiwan, Wu Xinbo, director of Fudan University's center for American studies.

The US has improved its ties with the island of Taiwan in every aspect, including in diplomacy and economy. It may offer more support to Taiwan in the future. Considering these changes, China should take stronger countermeasures, Wu said. 

Chang Ya-chung, a professor of National Taiwan University, said at the annual forum that US strategists are instigating the Taiwan island to confront the Chinese mainland, which is turning Taiwan into another Afghanistan. Sacrificing Taiwan matters little to the US. This is precisely a US strategic trap.