The first Chinese delegation to visit Taiwan since the start of the Covid pandemic received a ” heartwarming welcome “said Monday, February 20 the mayor of Taipei which is led by the Kuomintang party (KMT), more favorable to a rapprochement with China than the Progressive Democratic Party of the president, Tsai Ing-wen.
The six members of the Chinese delegation who arrived from Shanghai on Saturday met the mayor of the Taiwanese capital, Chiang Wan-an, a member of the KMT. The visit is part of a series of recent exchanges between Beijing and the island of Taiwan, which is preparing for the 2024 presidential election.
Chinese and Taiwanese officials have “exchanged their views on municipal issues, such as culture, sports and tourism… The Shanghai delegation also said they received a warm welcome”, Taipei City Hall said in a statement on Monday. Due to political tensions between Taiwan and China, trade was limited even before the pandemic.
Beijing claims the Democratic Island as part of its territory and has stepped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016.
Difficult balance
Asked whether the visit was a sign of warming China-Taiwanese relations, the head of the Shanghai delegation, Li Xiaodong, replied on Sunday: “we are looking forward to it”. “But you can’t achieve radical change just through a task force like mine. Both parties need to work together”, he added. In this context of warming, on Tuesday, the president of Taiwan announced that the island would strengthen its military ties with the United States. “Taiwan would cooperate even more actively with the United States and other democratic partners to deal with international challenges like authoritarian expansionism and climate change. »
KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia recently made a nine-day trip to China, where he called for more direct flights and the lifting of import restrictions. Last year, Beijing banned imports of Taiwanese fruit and fish, in retaliation for the visit to the island in August by Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
After this official trip by the American representative, Sino-Taiwanese relations had deteriorated sharply, Beijing having at the time retorted with major military maneuvers around the island.
Taiwan Affairs Office chief in Beijing Song Tao assured Andrew Hsia that the Chinese Communist Party is ready to work with the KMT to promote relations based on the principle of rejecting the island’s independence , according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.