China Says It Will Resume Some Ties With Taiwan After Visit By Opposition Leader

BANGKOK — China said Sunday that it would resume immoderate ties it had suspended pinch Taiwan specified arsenic nonstop flights and imports of Taiwanese aquaculture products aft a sojourn by nan Beijing-friendly guidance leader of nan self-ruled island.

The Taiwan Work Office nether China’s Communist Party issued a connection saying it would research mounting up a long-standing connection system betwixt nan Communist Party and Taiwan’s Kuomintang party, aliases KMT. It said it will facilitate nan import of Taiwan’s aquaculture products that it had antecedently banned.

Cheng Li-wun, nan caput of nan KMT, and China’s President Xi Jinping held a high-profile gathering Friday during which they called for peace, without offering specifics. China claims nan land arsenic portion of its territory and hasn’t ruled retired nan usage of unit to annex it.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees nan narration pinch China, said nan measures that were announced, specified arsenic promoting a connection mechanism, were “political transactions” betwixt nan 2 parties that circumvented nan authorities of Taiwan.

“The government’s position is clear: To guarantee nan interests of nan federation and its people, each cross-strait affairs involving nationalist powerfulness must beryllium negotiated by some governments connected an adjacent and honorable ground to beryllium effective and genuinely protect nan authorities and well-being of nan people,” nan Mainland Affairs Council said successful consequence to nan Chinese announcement.

Taiwan has been governed separately from China since 1949, erstwhile a civilian warfare brought nan Communist Party to powerfulness successful Beijing. Defeated KMT forces fled to Taiwan, wherever they group up their ain government.

Relations betwixt China and Taiwan person been tense since nan predetermination of pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen successful 2016.

Beijing trim disconnected astir of its charismatic speech pinch Taiwan’s government, and has started sending warships and combatant jets person toward nan land connected a regular basis.

In nan statement, China said it plans to resume nonstop flights betwixt Taiwan and mainland cities for illustration Xian aliases Urumqi, though it remained unclear really nan measures would beryllium implemented without nan support of nan Taiwanese government.

China banned its citizens from individual trips to Taiwan successful 2019. Taiwan’s rules now require Chinese visitors to clasp valid resident visas from different country, specified arsenic nan United States aliases a personnel of nan European Union, to use for visitant visas.

China besides said it would activity toward building of a span that would link nan mainland to Matsu and Kinmen, Taiwanese islands that are person geographically to China. The task is simply a long-standing connection that Beijing has antecedently announced.

China banned nan import of Taiwanese pineapples successful 2021, and since past has extended nan prohibition to different fruits and products including grouper fish, squid and tuna.

After nan first prohibition connected grouper, Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture said it approached China astir making adjustments to guarantee it met import requirements. China replied pinch a constricted database of individual companies that were allowed to waste to China, but without explanation.

Wu writes for nan Associated Press.