Xi Jinping is behaving like Hitler, says Taiwan's deputy foreign minister

Telegraph

4 days ago

At his office in Taipei, Wu Chih-chung pulls out a small stack of papers titled Xi Jinping 's Gradual Move Toward Personal Dictatorship.
On each sheet are copies of the front page of the People's Daily, China's largest state-run newspaper, spanning from 1997 to 2022 – each capturing a different era in Chinese leadership.
As Mr Wu, Taiwan's deputy foreign minister, goes through the pages, there is a noticeable shift when Mr Xi comes on the scene in 2012.
While his predecessors opted for small, 'modest' portraits, says Mr Wu, the image of Mr Xi takes up almost the entire front page.
'You see the rise of Hitler, of someone who tries to be the only one who rules China,' said Mr Wu.
'It's the rise of a dictatorship. It's exactly what happened at the beginning of the 20th century with Hitler and Mussolini,' he added.
The People's Daily clippings were taken from past coverage of China's National Congress, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) most important leadership meeting held every five years.
The front cover from 1997 includes a small photograph of former president and general secretary Jiang Zemin along with seven other members of the CCP's politburo. It's a similar story in 2002 and 2007 with leader Hu Jintao.
It's a similar story in 2002 and 2007 with Hu Jintao, another former president.
'At this time, China was ruled by this kind of collective rule. It was a committee that would rule China with one chief,' said Mr Wu.
However, now, 'you can no more recognise the other rulers of China', only Mr Xi, he said.
Since 2012, when Mr Xi became president, as well as general secretary of the CCP and chairman of the Central Military Commission, he has taken steps to consolidate his power, expanding the scope of his control well beyond his predecessors.
Mr Xi launched a widespread anti-corruption campaign, targeting those at all levels of the politburo and military, in what many believe has been an effort to weaken his rivals and reinforce his grip on power.
He also initiated reforms within China's military, the People's Liberation Army, to centralise its command and turn it into one of the largest and strongest in the world.
These efforts have been undertaken with a key objective in mind – to 'reunify the motherland' by bringing Taiwan under Beijing's control – and to use force if necessary.
Fear of provocation
Over the last several years, China has increasingly applied pressure on Taiwan through 'grey zone' incursions – measures that fall short of full blown warfare but seek to coerce the country ahead of a possible attack.
These tactics include cyber attacks, intrusions into Taiwan's waters and air space as well as misinformation campaigns, which Mr Wu says have been particularly troubling.
'The real worry in my heart is not military aggression from China. It's the division within Taiwan because China has become very sophisticated in dividing Taiwanese society,' he said.
Experts previously told The Telegraph that if China were to attack Taiwan, it's likely it would first seek to erode trust in the government through propaganda or misinformation in order to turn more support towards Beijing.
Prior to his appointment as deputy foreign minister, Mr Wu worked for many years as a political science professor in Taipei before serving as Taiwan's ambassador to France from 2018 to 2024.
He noted that China's constant threats against Taiwan and its defence capabilities have been a major obstacle in Taipei's ability to establish formal relations with other countries.
Taiwan, with a population of more than 23 million people, only has official diplomatic ties with 12 countries, mostly small nations in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The deputy foreign minister said that while it's 'very frustrating' that Taiwan cannot have formal relations with more countries, the reality is 'if they recognise Taiwan, China may use force against Taiwan'.
'Of course, we are very unhappy about our international status, but we need to be pragmatic. We cannot provoke China,' said Mr Wu.
It's a similar story when it comes to defence commitments.
Many countries including the US and the UK subscribe to the principle of 'strategic ambiguity' where they refrain from affirming support for Taipei if China invaded.
'It's better if we can have a guarantee but if we cannot it's because a formal assurance to Taiwan would provoke China too much,' said Mr Wu.
With the US, Taiwan's 'most important partner', said Mr Wu, 'the problem is that no one knows what Donald Trump is thinking about'.
He added: 'The problem is that no one knows what Donald Trump is thinking about... we are working very hard to build this common interest between US and Taiwan and if this interest is big enough, then the support will come to Taiwan naturally.'
Behind the scenes
Although Taiwan is restricted in its ability to forge formal relations, both diplomatic and defence, this has not prevented the country from establishing strong informal relations.
The existing framework still allows for countries such as the UK and the US to 'work with Taiwanese officials unofficially' and it 'depends on us to define unofficially', said Mr Wu.
In addition to its 12 diplomatic missions, Taiwan has 97 representative offices around the world, many of which serve as de facto embassies in the absence of formal ties.
Mr Wu said that he has noticed a shift over the six years he served as ambassador in France with more actors looking to engage with Taiwan.
'When I arrived in France in 2018... people would ask me where I came from and when I said Taiwan, you could feel the air immediately freeze,' said Mr Wu.
However, when he left France in 2024, the mood had changed.
This, he said, was due to Taiwan's handling of the pandemic and a greater awareness of the country's role as the leading producer of semiconductors.
It was also a result of increasing pressure from China.
'The contribution of Taiwan, the knowhow of Taiwan, the military aggression [from China] is making Taiwan more famous and attracting more attention... people began to learn that Taiwan is so important,' he said.
'Not today'
This greater engagement has led to a rise in Taiwan's exports, which grew by a record 9.9 per cent in 2024, as well as an increase in defence cooperation.
The US, Taiwan's primary weapons' source, signalled that it will be increasing its arms sales to the island in the coming years as part of an effort to deter China, with new deals signed earlier this year for more advanced missile and drone technology.
Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te pledged this week to boost next year's defence budget to more than 3 per cent of GDP, but Mr Trump has previously said it should be closer to 10 per cent to deter China.
Mr Wu said the goal is to 'demonstrate that we have the strong will to defend ourselves'.
'If we reach 3 per cent of our GDP, it will occupy more than 20 per cent of our annual government budget – much higher than any European country and America,' said Mr Wu.
He added that higher defence spending is 'in the interest of the US' because we will 'only buy more military equipment from the US'.
Taiwan increased its defence budget target to 3 per cent of GDP – £14bn – but Mr Trump said it should be closer to 10 per cent to deter China.
Increasing our defence budget is good and is in the interest of the US because we can 'only buy more military equipment from the US', said Mr Wu.
Many Western countries have also stepped up their military presence in the Indo-Pacific. The US has increased its involvement in military drills in the region, expanding the size and scope of its exercises with partners like Japan, the Philippines and Australia.
For its part, the UK deployed its largest carrier strike group, the HMS Prince of Wales, to the region in April as part of a months-long demonstration of its capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr Wu also said that a new security agreement between Taiwan and Canada would be signed 'very soon' for greater collaboration between the two country's coast guards.
While all technically carried out 'informally', this growing international cooperation is a critical component of what Mr Wu and others call the 'not today policy' – an effort to deter China, and its leadership, indefinitely.
'Xi Jinping wants to be the greatest emperor of China so every morning after he wakes up, when he's shaving, he says, 'OK, I really want to conquer Taiwan, it's my dream, but today is not a good day',' said the deputy foreign minister.
'We cannot let Xi Jinping make his dreams come true. Then that would be a success for the whole of humanity.'