China will not tolerate independence for Taiwan, Xi tells island’s opposition leader

By Liz Lee

BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) – China will “absolutely not tolerate” independence for Taiwan, which is the chief culprit in undermining peace in the Taiwan Strait, President Xi Jinping told the island’s opposition leader on Friday, calling for efforts to advance “reunification”.

Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is in China on what she has called a peace mission to reduce tensions at a time when Beijing has stepped up military pressure against the island it claims as its territory.

Meeting in the Great Hall of the People, Xi told Cheng that today’s world was not entirely at peace, and peace was precious.

“Compatriots on both sides of the strait are all Chinese – people of one family who want peace, development, exchange, and cooperation,” he said, in comments carried by Taiwan television stations.

‘ONE CHINA’

Both sides of the strait belong to “one China”, Xi added, according to a separate state media readout.

“When the family is harmonious, all things will prosper,” he said. “Taiwan independence is the chief culprit in undermining peace in the Taiwan Strait – we will absolutely not tolerate or condone it.”

Xi also mentioned the thorny subject of union between China and Taiwan, which has long been Beijing’s goal but which Taiwan’s government rejects.

The KMT and Communist Party must “join hands to create a bright future of the motherland’s reunification and national rejuvenation,” he said.

China refuses to talk to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a “separatist”.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei late on Friday, Taiwan’s top China policymaker, Chiu Chui-cheng, said only Taiwan’s people could decide their future and China should engage with Taipei’s democratically elected and legitimate government.

“The Chinese communists are deliberately creating the false impression that Taiwan is an internal affair of China,” he added.

The then-KMT-led Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, who founded the People’s Republic of China. To this day, neither government formally recognises the other.

The modern KMT favours closer diplomatic and economic ties with Beijing than the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The United States said meaningful cross-strait exchange should focus on dialogue between “Beijing’s leadership and Taiwan’s democratically elected authorities without preconditions,” while also including all other political parties in Taiwan.

“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, urging Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan.

Beijing regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States. Washington does not have formal ties with Taiwan, but is the island’s closest backer and main source of arms.

‘CHESSBOARD’

Cheng told Xi that mutually beneficial cross-strait relations were what the public on both sides longed for, and that interactions and exchanges should be reciprocal.

“I, Li-wun, sincerely hope that one day in the future, I will have the opportunity to be the host and welcome General Secretary Xi and all of you here present in Taiwan,” she added, using Xi’s title as head of the Communist Party.

Cheng said she hoped that through the efforts of both parties, the Taiwan Strait would no longer be a focal point of potential conflict, and would certainly not become a “chessboard for outside forces to intervene in”.

Speaking later to reporters in Beijing, Cheng said Xi had told her that China respected Taiwan’s different social system and choice of lifestyle.

“But he also hopes that Taiwan will be able to affirm and acknowledge the development achievements of the mainland,” she said.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Writing and additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Lincoln Feast and Alex Richardson)