What’s new: Chinese President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts to pursue peaceful reunification between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait during a landmark meeting with former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing.
“There is no rancor that cannot be resolved, no issues that cannot be discussed, and no force that can separate us,” Xi said while meeting Ma Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The difference in systems does not alter the reality that both sides of the Strait belong to one China, and external interference cannot hold back the historical trend of national reunification, Xi said.
Ma, Taiwan’s leader from 2008 to 2016, called for collaboration across the Strait and said the recent tensions between the two sides have caused unease for many in Taiwan.
A war would be “an unbearable burden for the Chinese nation,” said Ma. “The Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will definitely have enough wisdom to handle cross-Strait disputes peacefully and avoid conflicts,” he said.
Background: Wednesday’s meeting is the second for Xi and Ma after their landmark summit in Singapore in 2015 when Ma was still in office. It is also the first time the top leadership in Beijing had received a serving or former leader of Taiwan on the mainland.
During his 11-day tour beginning April 1, Ma led a group of students from Taiwan to Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces, as well as Beijing. They also attended a ceremony to pay respect to China’s mythical ancestor Huangdi in northwestern province Shaanxi during the Qingming Festival.
Ma first visited the mainland in March 2023, when he paid his respects to his ancestors in Hunan province and took a delegation of Taiwanese youth to cities including Shanghai, Wuhan, Nanjing and Chongqing.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
