BBC:
China’s President Xi Jinping received Taiwan’s main opposition party leader on Friday, in a rare meeting which saw both sides stress a desire for cross-strait peace.
Cheng Li-wun is the Kuomintang’s (KMT) first sitting leader to visit China in a decade.
In 2016, Beijing cut off high-level communications with Taiwan after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen became president, citing her refusal to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation. The DPP is among those who have criticised Cheng’s trip, accusing her of being “subservient” to Beijing.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out taking the self-governed island by force.
“The leaders of our two parties are meeting today in order to safeguard the peace and stability of our shared homeland, to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and to allow future generations to share in a bright and beautiful future,” said Xi in a meeting at China’s Great Hall of the People on Friday.
He added that China was willing – on the common political foundation of opposing Taiwan independence – to strengthen exchange and dialogue together with various parties, including the KMT.
Xi also reiterated that those on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese, and that they all wanted peace.
In response, Cheng said the “rejuvenation of the Chinese people is a shared aspiration of the people on both sides of the Strait”.
