China confident of 'reunification' with Taiwan: CCP official

Beijing is confident about "complete reunification" with self-ruled Taiwan, a senior Chinese Communist Party official said Tuesday at a Hong Kong conference promoting China's reunification.

The annual conference -- held in Hong Kong for the first time in 14 years -- was attended by more than 1,200 pro-China politicians and public figures from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas, according to organisers.

"Today, we are closer to... realising the great rejuvenation of the people of China than at any other time in history, and more confident and more capable than ever to complete reunification," said Shi Taifeng, who heads the United Front Work Department (UFWD).

China claims self-ruled Taiwan -- which has its own government, military and currency -- as part of its territory.

Beijing has said it would never renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

The UFWD is responsible for engaging with minor ethnicities, religious groups and overseas Chinese on issues related to Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan.

Tuesday's "Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China" was organised by an umbrella council under the department.

Beijing considers Tibet, a Himalayan region, and northwest Xinjiang province -- home to a largely Sunni Muslin Uyghur population -- as inalienable parts of its territory, while Hong Kong and Macau are classified as "special administrative regions".

In his speech, Shi said the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is "grave and complex", blaming it on the government of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party's "wanton incitement of cross-strait confrontation".

"But the time and situation are always on the side of those who advocate national reunification," he said.

"We must... uphold the fighting spirits, dare to shoulder our responsibility and... always stay vigilant to the movements of the Taiwan independence forces and external interfering forces."

Among the attendees were leaders of minor pro-unification political parties in Taiwan, such as the New Party and the Labour Party.

China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan with fighter jets, drones, and naval vessels.

Beijing also launched war games around the island days after Lai was sworn into office.

It regards him as a "dangerous separatist" for his views of maintaining Taiwan's sovereignty.

Within Taiwan, the issue of "unification" is deeply unpopular for the Taiwanese population, according to regular surveys done by National Chengchi University.

The most recent one, published in June, shows that around one percent of people support "unification as soon as possible", while nearly 90 percent want to maintain the status quo.