China announced a series of policy measures to demonstrate ¡°goodwill¡± toward Taiwan on Sunday, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun.
The measures include facilitating the sale of Taiwan¡¯s agricultural and fishery products and investment into mainland China, and promoting the resumption of certain outbound travel to the island, according to a statement released by Xinhua News Agency. The steps are aimed at promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, it said.
The moves come as Cheng concludes her visit to China, marking the first such trip by a Kuomintang chairperson in nearly a decade. The measures are consistent with Beijing¡¯s broader strategy of engaging Taiwan¡¯s opposition figures, while maintaining pressure on the ruling administration led by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
China said Sunday it will also explore the establishment of a ¡°regularized communication mechanism¡± between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, according to the statement.
In response, Taiwan¡¯s government agency in charge of relations with China said in a statement Sunday that any regular communication must not violate Taiwanese law. It also rebuked the measures, stating that China¡¯s economic concessions to Taiwan can be withdrawn at any time and are, in essence, a form of coercion.
Taiwan¡¯s government has reiterated that any cross-strait political negotiations require official authorization. Lai, who presides over the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has said Taiwan is open to exchanges with China but not at the expense of democracy and national interests.
Beijing, for its part, has refused to engage directly with Lai and the DPP, which it views as favoring Taiwan independence. This has contributed to a continued freeze in formal cross-strait communication.
The latest measures come against the backdrop of long-standing disruptions to people-to-people exchanges, particularly in tourism. Travel between China and Taiwan has been curtailed since 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, with Beijing halting most individual travel permits and group tours.
Both Taipei and Beijing have traded blame over those disruptions. Taiwan maintains that reopening should proceed in a healthy and orderly manner through official consultation mechanisms, while China has been accused by Taipei of creating obstacles by restricting outbound travel.
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