No force can separate us, Xi tells ex-Taiwan leader

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that “external interference” would not stop Beijing from unifying with Taiwan, as he met the self-ruled island’s former leader in a rare display of cross-strait dialogue.

Taiwan’s ex-president Ma Ying-jeou was in China as part of what he called a “journey of peace” to calm tensions with Beijing, which claims the island as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.

“The Chinese nation has written the indivisible history of both sides of the Taiwan Strait and engraved the fact that our compatriots ... are connected by blood,” Xi said.

“There is no force that can separate us ... Differences in systems cannot change the objective fact that we belong to one nation and one people. External interference cannot stop the historic cause of our reunion,” Xi said.

In his remarks to Xi, Ma said “young people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait represent the future of the Chinese nation”.

“If war were to break out between the two sides, it would be an unbearable burden for the Chinese nation,” he said.

“Chinese people on both sides of the strait absolutely have ample wisdom to peacefully handle disputes and avoid conflicts,” said Ma, adding that they should also “oppose Taiwan independence”.

Ma served two terms as Taiwan’s leader between 2008 and 2016, representing the Kuomintang (KMT) party, long more receptive to Beijing.

He oversaw an improvement in ties and held symbolic talks nine years ago with Xi in Singapore, the first meeting between the political leaders of China and Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

But relations have plummeted since the 2016 election of Ma’s successor Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects Beijing’s claims.

Since then, China has ratcheted up diplomatic and military pressure, and has refused to rule out using force to “unify” with Taiwan.

The Taiwan Foreign Ministry said “Beijing authorities” had “taken advantage of this meeting to indulge in unbridled propaganda”.

“If China really wants to show goodwill, it must cease all acts of coercion ... and, on the basis of reciprocity, resume dialogue with the government,” it said.