China said Sunday it would resume some ties it had suspended with Taiwan after a visit by Cheng Li-wun, the head of the Beijing-friendly opposition Kuomingtang. The Chinese announcement came as China and Taiwan—both governed under separate political systems since 1949—remain divided over Taiwan’s status and have maintained a tense relationship amid increased military activity, according to the AP report.
In a statement, China’s Taiwan Work Office said it would explore setting up a longstanding communication mechanism between China’s Communist Party and Taiwan’s Kuomingtang Party. The office said the arrangement would help facilitate imports of Taiwan’s aquaculture products that it previously banned, and it also said it would resume some suspended ties such as direct flights.
The Chinese announcement followed a high-profile meeting on Friday between Cheng and President Xi Jinping, during which the two called for peace without giving details, the report said. China’s posture toward Taiwan remains that the island is part of its territory, and the office did not rule out the use of force to annex it, according to the AP account.
The report said it remained unclear how the direct-flight and other steps would be implemented without approval from Taiwan’s government. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees relations with China, said the measures announced by China were not government-to-government negotiations, but instead party-level exchanges that bypass Taiwan’s authorities.
In response to the announcement, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said: “The government’s position is clear: to ensure the interests of the nation and its people, all Cross-Strait affairs involving public power must be negotiated by both governments on an equal and dignified basis to be effective and truly protect the rights and well-being of the people.”
The AP report also described additional Chinese steps that it said the Taiwan Work Office planned, including working toward construction of a bridge connecting the mainland to Matsu and Kinmen, Taiwanese islands closer geographically to China. Beijing previously announced the bridge proposal, the report said.
Relations between China and Taiwan have been tense since the election of pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party in 2016, the AP report said. Beijing has cut off most official dialogue with Taiwan’s government since then and has sent warships and fighter jets closer to the island on a daily basis, according to the report.
The AP account added that China banned its citizens from individual trips to Taiwan in 2019, while Taiwan requires Chinese visitors to have a valid resident visa from another country, such as the United States or the European Union, to apply for a visitor visa. The report also said China has imposed a broader set of import restrictions, including bans on Taiwanese pineapples announced in 2021 and later expanded to other fruits and products.
After China initially banned the import of grouper, Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture said it approached China to adjust its rules so the seafood met import requirements, the report said. China replied with a limited list of individual companies allowed to sell to China, without explanation, the report said.