Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Kuomintang party chair Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, the first encounter between Xi and a sitting Taiwanese opposition leader in nearly a decade.
In a readout released by Chinese state media, Xi said Beijing “welcomes any proposals conducive to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.” That’s according to a CNBC translation of the statement in Chinese.
Xi also reiterated that ”‘Taiwan independence’ is the primary threat undermining stability across the Taiwan Strait,” calling on party leaders on the mainland and Taiwan to oppose “separatism and foreign interference.”
Cheng took the helm last October of the largest opposition party at a time of rising military and political tensions with the mainland. Her trip to Beijing came as the KMT seeks to position itself as a viable interlocutor with the mainland ahead of Taiwan’s 2028 presidential election.
The tone of Beijing’s official readout marked a meaningful shift, said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “The message reduces the risk of military conflict across the Taiwan Strait and is beneficial for both mainland China and Taiwan,” Zhang said, adding that it signaled Beijing’s preference for a peaceful approach to cross-strait relations.
