China will not tolerate independence for Taiwan, Xi tells island\u2019s opposition leader
\n BEIJING
\nDNA China\u2019s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan\u2019s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had \u201cfull confidence\u201d that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.
\nKuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party\u2019s first leader to visit China in a decade, but her trip has sparked debate in Taiwan with critics accusing her of being too pro-Beijing. China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency and rejected Beijing\u2019s claims that the self-ruled island is part of its territory.
\nXi told Cheng as the two met on Friday that \u201cthe general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change\u201d. \u201cThis is an inevitable part of history. We have full confidence in this,\u201d Xi said during the talks carried by Taiwanese media.
\nHe also said China was willing to strengthen dialogue with groups in Taiwan, including the KMT, on the \u201ccommon political foundation of\u2026 opposing Taiwan independence\u201d. The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
\nCheng echoed Xi\u2019s stance at a press conference after their meeting, stressing the need for younger generations to understand \u201cwhat challenges we face at this stage\u201d and \u201chow, by adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing Taiwan independence, we can avoid war\u201d. The so-called consensus suggests there is \u201cone China\u201d without specifying which its rightful representative is.
\nEarlier, she told Xi that the Taiwan Strait would \u201cno longer be a focal point of potential conflict\u201d and \u201cboth sides should transcend political confrontation\u201d. She also said Xi had responded \u201cpositively\u201d to her proposal that the sides work toward Taiwan participating in international organisations such as Interpol and regional trade agreements.
\nA spokesman for Taiwan\u2019s ruling DPP said China should respect Taiwan\u2019s \u201ccommitment to freedom and democracy, rather than interfering in the choices of the Taiwanese people through division and inducement\u201d. \u201cDifferences between the two sides must be handled through peaceful and equal means, rather than by using suppression and intimidation,\u201d spokesman Lee Kuen-cheng said.
\nBeijing has ramped up military pressure around Taiwan in recent years, conducting near-daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near the island and regular large-scale military drills. Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over the government\u2019s plan to spend $39 billion on defence, which has been stalled for months in parliament, controlled by opposition parties including the KMT. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China will not tolerate independence for Taiwan, Xi tells island\u2019s opposition leader BEIJING DNA China\u2019s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan\u2019s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had \u201cfull confidence\u201d that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united. Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party\u2019s first leader to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-541183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n