China’s Xi warns of ‘grim’ Taiwan scenario in letter to opposition

The scenario within the Taiwan Strait is “complicated and grim”, Chinese language President Xi Jinping wrote in a congratulatory letter on Sunday to the newly elected chief of Taiwan’s predominant opposition get together, who has pledged to resume talks with Beijing.

Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) elected as their chief on Saturday former New Taipei Metropolis mayor Eric Chu, who mentioned he would rekindle stalled high-level contacts with China’s ruling Communist Occasion.

China claims Taiwan as its personal territory and has stepped up army and political strain to power the democratically dominated island to just accept Chinese language sovereignty, although most Taiwanese have proven no real interest in being ruled by Beijing.

In Xi’s letter, a duplicate of which was launched by the KMT, he mentioned each events had had “good interactions” based mostly on their joint opposition to Taiwan independence.

“At current, the scenario within the Taiwan Strait is complicated and grim. All of the little kids of the Chinese language nation should work along with one coronary heart and go ahead collectively,” wrote Xi, who can also be head of the Communist Occasion.

He expressed hope that each events may cooperate on “searching for peace within the Taiwan Strait, searching for nationwide reunification and searching for nationwide revitalization”.

Chu, who badly misplaced the 2016 presidential election to present President Tsai Ing-wen, responded to Xi that folks on either side of the Taiwan Strait have been “all the youngsters of the Yellow Emperor” – in different phrases, all Han Chinese language.

Chu blamed Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Occasion (DPP) for tensions with Beijing after pursuing anti-China insurance policies.

Chu, who met Xi in China in 2015, mentioned he hoped to “search widespread floor and respect variations, enhance mutual belief and geniality, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in order to permit the continued peaceable growth of cross-strait relations”.

Below outgoing KMT chief Johnny Chiang’s 17-month tenure, high-level contacts with China stalled amid army tensions and suspicion in Beijing the get together was not sufficiently dedicated to the thought Taiwan was a part of “one China”.

In addition to dropping the 2016 polls, the KMT have been trounced in elections final 12 months after failing to shake DPP accusations they have been Beijing’s lackeys.

China refuses to speak to Tsai, calling her a separatist. She says Taiwan is already an unbiased nation known as the Republic of China, the island’s formal title, and that solely Taiwan’s folks have the suitable to determine their very own future.