BEIJING: Song Tao, head of the Chinese mainland’s Taiwan affairs authority, met with Hsia Li-yan, vice-chairman of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang party in Beijing to call for strengthening of mutual trust and exchanges.
Hsia leads a delegation, which arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to seek exchanges and cooperation, as people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits expect to increase communication after the COVID-19 epidemic.
Song, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the mainland will “deepen cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in all areas and promote mutual understanding between people on both sides”.
“We will continue to uphold the principle that the two sides across the Straits are one family, and will respect, care for and create benefits for our compatriots in Taiwan,” he said.
Welcoming the delegation, Song said the mainland is willing to “strengthen exchanges and enhance mutual trust with the KMT” on the common political basis of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing “Taiwan independence”.
He said the two sides can work together to promote cross-Straits relations and ties between the two parties, and strive for peace across the Straits, people’s well-being and the national rejuvenation.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
