Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17758046697401775085718699HEgqmPPa0AA2woE (3).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><em>📷༘ Carlos De Souza, Unsplash</em></span></span></span></div><p>BEIJING, China — China&#x27;s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan&#x27;s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had &quot;full confidence&quot; that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/31/ph-deeply-concerned-by-china-s-drills-around-taiwan-1646">PH &#x27;deeply concerned&#x27; by China&#x27;s drills around Taiwan</a></div><p>Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party&#x27;s first leader to visit China in a decade, but her trip has sparked debate in Taiwan with critics accusing her of being too pro-Beijing.</p><p>China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing&#x27;s claims that the self-ruled island is part of its territory.</p><p>Xi told Cheng as the two met on Friday that &quot;the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change.&quot;</p><p>&quot;This is an inevitable part of history. We have full confidence in this,&quot; Xi said during the talks carried by Taiwanese media.</p><p>He also said China was willing to strengthen dialogue with groups in Taiwan, including the KMT, on the &quot;common political foundation of... opposing Taiwan independence.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/12/31/taiwan-coastguard-says-chinese-ships-withdrawing-after-drills-1625">China says live-fire drills around Taiwan &#x27;completed successfully&#x27;</a></div><p>The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.</p><p>Cheng told Xi she hoped the Taiwan Strait would &quot;no longer be a focal point of potential conflict.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Both sides should transcend political confrontation... and seek a systemic solution to prevent and avoid war, so that the Taiwan Strait can become a model for peaceful conflict resolution in the world,&quot; she said.</p><p>Beijing has sworn to take Taiwan and has not ruled out using force, ramping up military pressure around the self-ruled island in recent years.</p><p>China conducts near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near the island and regular large-scale military drills.</p><p>Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over the government&#x27;s plan to spend NT$1.25 trillion ($39 billion) on defence, which has been stalled for months in parliament, controlled by Cheng&#x27;s KMT party.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DEFENSE SPENDING </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Cheng&#x27;s trip comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/02/21/china-marks-national-day-with-mass-air-incursion-near-taiwan">China marks national day with mass air incursion near Taiwan</a></div><p>The United States has been piling pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to back a proposal for defense purchases, including US weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack.</p><p>Cheng has railed against the government&#x27;s proposal, insisting &quot;Taiwan isn&#x27;t an ATM&quot; and instead backed a KMT plan to allocate NT$380 billion ($12 billion) for US weapons with the option for more acquisitions.</p><p>While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016.</p><p>Cross-strait relations have worsened in particular since the election of Tsai&#x27;s successor, Lai Ching-te, who Beijing considers a separatist.</p><p>Lai said in a Facebook post on Friday that &quot;China&#x27;s... military threats in and around the Taiwan Strait and the island chain have severely undermined regional peace and stability.&quot;</p><p>Cheng landed in Shanghai on Tuesday evening, saying shortly after her arrival that &quot;the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not doomed to war, as the international community has feared.&quot;</p><p>The KMT leader also travelled to the eastern city of Nanjing where she visited the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, one of the few Chinese historical figures revered in both Beijing and Taipei.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hhfKPgh_zPY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fBjoLwDqHyw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>China's President Xi Jinping met Taiwan's opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had "full confidence" that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.</p>

China's President Xi Jinping met Taiwan's opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had "full confidence" that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.

Chinese, Taiwanese will unite, Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader

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Chinese, Taiwanese will unite, Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader

Agence France-Presse

Published April 10, 2026 03:06 PM PHT

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