Senior Chinese official meets vice chairman of Taiwan’s Kuomintang party
Beijing, June 19 (EFE).- The head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Song Tao met Monday with Andrew Hsia, vice president of the Taiwanese opposition Kuomintang party, in the southeastern city of Xiamen.
Song spoke about “advancing exchanges and cooperation” as well as integrated development on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, vowing to “do everything possible to meet the needs of Taiwanese compatriots” and help them “overcome difficulties “.
Song said China is willing to “strengthen exchanges and mutual trust with the Kuomintang” on the “common political basis of adhering to the 1992 Consensus” and “opposing Taiwanese independence,” to promote the “development of peaceful relations between the two parties and the reunification of the homeland.”
Hsia, in China to participate in a cross-straits dialog forum, said adhering to the 1992 Consensus and “opposing Taiwan independence” has been the position held by the Kuomintang for a long time.
He spoke of his hope that the Communist Party and Kuomintang will continue to strengthen cooperation, benefit more people with cross-strait exchanges, and jointly contribute to the smooth development of relations between the two sides and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The term “1992 Consensus” was created by Taiwanese politician and academic Su Chi to reflect an alleged tacit agreement between Taipei and Beijing to recognize that “there is only one China in the world,” although each side has interpreted it in their own way.
Hsia asked in February to “sincerely cooperate” with Beijing and “properly manage differences.”
In November, the Kuomintang swept the island’s local elections, although analysts said then that, unlike in presidential elections, in which the situation in the Strait of Formosa is an important factor, Taiwan focused on showing their discontent with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party local management.
Taiwan will hold its next presidential election in January.
The Kuomintang, which denies being pro-Beijing, has been a supporter of closer ties with China in recent years and defends the importance of keeping lines of communication open.
Taiwan has been governed autonomously under the official name of the Republic of China since 1949, when the Kuomintang nationalists retreated there after losing the Chinese civil war against the communists, so Beijing continues to consider it a rebel province and claims its sovereignty. EFE
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