China says to boost Taiwan exchanges as opposition leader ends visit

BEIJING: China will implement a series of measures to enhance exchanges with Taiwan, Beijing said on Sunday on the final day of a rare visit by an opposition party delegation from the self-ruled island.

Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun is the party’s first leader to visit China in a decade, although she has faced criticism in Taiwan from those who accuse her of being too pro-Beijing.

China cut off high-level contact with Taiwan after the 2016 presidential victory of the Democratic Progressive Party, which remains in power and which rejects Beijing’s claim that the self-ruled island is part of its territory.

Beijing released a list of 10 measures to “promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and enhance the well-being of compatriots”, state news agency Xinhua said, hours before Cheng’s scheduled return to Taipei on Sunday afternoon.

Among the policies authorised by Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) is an effort to “promote the resumption of the pilot programme for individual travel” to Taiwan’s main island for residents of Shanghai and Fujian province, Xinhua said.

In a potential further boost to travel links, the TAO said authorities will push for a “full resumption” of direct flights between Taiwan and various cities, including Urumqi, Xi’an, Harbin, Kunming and Lanzhou.

China will also allow the importation of Taiwanese dramas, documentaries and animations, although they must be “correctly oriented, wholesome and high-quality”, Xinhua said.

KMT Vice Chairman Chang Jung-kung said in a news release the measures were “highly welcome”.

“They are particularly in line with the expectations of various sectors in Taiwan and constitute a significant boost to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations,” Chang said.

The announcement came two days after Cheng’s closely watched meeting with President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital.

Xi told Cheng during their talks that “the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change”.

Cheng echoed that sentiment at a later news conference, calling on younger generations to “avoid war” by “opposing Taiwan independence”.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure around Taiwan in recent years, conducting near-daily deployments of fighter jets and warships, as well as regularly staging large-scale military drills.