NEW RULES

China Ditches Promise Not to Send Troops to Taiwan if it Seizes the Island

Beijing is now offering Taiwan less freedom after what it calls “reunification.”

China has dropped a three-decades-old promise not to station soldiers in Taiwan if it takes control of the island, an official state document showed Wednesday. A new white paper on China’s position on self-ruled Taiwan no longer included a commitment that China “will not send troops or administrative personnel to be based in Taiwan” after what Beijing calls “reunification.” The promise had previously featured in similar white papers published in 1993 and 2000. The document came after China launched unprecedented military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in retaliation to a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.