Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) called for better understanding across the Taiwan Strait to improve people’s lives in a meeting with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in Beijing on Thursday.
Hsia, whose delegation was scheduled to visit six Chinese cities until Friday next week after arriving on Wednesday, urged Taiwan and China to focus on bread-and-butter issues so that people are not affected by political differences between the two sides, a KMT statement said.
Among the issues are the difficulties faced by Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in the agricultural and fisheries sectors, due to several Chinese suspensions of imported goods from Taiwan since 2021, Hsia said.
Photo courtesy of the KMT
Taiwan and China should make sure that previous cross-strait agreements relate to people’s livelihoods, and are properly implemented, he said.
The two sides should seek ways to reduce the cost and inconvenience of cross-strait exchanges so that more dialogue can be carried out to “improve stability and peaceful development,” Hsia said.
Hsia’s trip has been controversial given China’s sustained pressure on Taiwan, but the KMT described the meeting in Beijing as candid, stressing that the party has been acting in line with its existing position, including the promotion of the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has never accepted the existence of such an agreement and does not agree with the formula, as it implies that Taiwan is part of China.
The MAC said that the meeting downgraded and hurt Taiwan’s sovereignty, as Song voiced Beijing’s intention to “carry through its strategy to resolve the Taiwan issue.”
Song also expressed Beijing’s willingness to work with the KMT more closely based on their common ground of the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, which the MAC described as a “united front” tactic.
The CCP has used the “1992 consensus” as a formula to reach “one country, two systems” unification, and Taiwanese refuse to accept it, the MAC said.
The KMT and CCP should abide by mainstream sentiment in Taiwan and avoid “hijacking the normalization of cross-strait relations,” DPP officials said in a statement yesterday.
“Chinese officials talked about their new approach to resolving the Taiwan issue, meaning annexing Taiwan by force, but the KMT is singing the same tune and cooperating,” it said. “It is deceiving the public and sabotaging the means to safeguard Taiwan.”
“The KMT’s actions will prompt more opposition among the public, while sending out wrong messages to the international community,” it added.
The KMT said that Hsia’s visit was intended to deal with Chinese import barriers, but China impeded the import process, then reduced restrictions for some products out of “generosity,” it said, adding that the KMT should not accept China’s unreasonable actions.
Hsia was scheduled to visit Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu during his trip, in which he is to meet with Taiwanese communities to get a first-hand understanding of their needs, the KMT said.
The trip is Hsia’s first visit to China this year, following a 17-day trip last year shortly after Beijing launched a high-pressure military and economic campaign in retaliation for then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or