On Friday, Zheng Liwen, chairperson of Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT), said during a meeting with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping that she hopes, through the tireless efforts of both the KMT and the CCP, the Taiwan Strait will not become a chessboard for foreign intervention.
The highly anticipated meeting between Xi and Zheng took place at 11 a.m. that day in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In his opening remarks, Xi stated that, regardless of how the international landscape and the situation in the Taiwan Strait may change, the great trend of people on both sides of the Strait coming together and becoming closer will not change. The mainland is willing, on the basis of the 1992 Consensus and opposition to Taiwan independence, to strengthen interactions with the KMT and other parties in Taiwan, so that cross-Strait relations remain firmly in Chinese hands.
According to reports from Taiwan media such as CTI News and ETtoday News Cloud, Zheng Liwen said in her remarks that in over a century of interactions between the KMT and the CCP, there have been many ups and downs. But what both sides have always pursued is how to bring the Chinese nation from decline to renaissance.
She pointed out that since 2005, when then-KMT chair Lien Chan's "Journey of Peace" broke the ice, the KMT and the CCP have, with a forward-looking historical perspective and from the vantage point of national and contemporary interests, been dedicated to promoting reconciliation and peaceful development across the Strait. She said that cross-Strait peace and reconciliation should only be the starting point of the joint efforts of the KMT and the CCP. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is a revitalization common to people on both sides of the Strait.
Zheng Liwen said that although people on both sides of the Strait live under different systems, they all respect each other and should strive toward one another. She believes peace is a moral value shared by both sides, and both parties should transcend political confrontation, jointly reflect upon and build a cross-Strait community of shared destiny for mutual benefit and prosperity, and seek an institutional solution to prevent and avoid war, making the Strait a model for world peace and conflict resolution.
She expressed hope that "with the tireless efforts of both our parties, the Taiwan Strait will no longer be a focal point of potential conflict, and even less a chessboard for foreign intervention." She said the Strait will be a channel connecting kinship, civilization, and hope, and a symbol of peace jointly safeguarded by people on both sides. "We will show the world that people on both sides who share Chinese civilization possess the utmost wisdom to resolve even the toughest differences."
Zheng Liwen said that both the KMT and CCP will jointly promote institutionalized cross-Strait peace, and, on the shared political foundation of upholding the 1992 Consensus and opposing Taiwan independence, both sides should further plan and build institutional and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation, so that the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations becomes irreversible, fundamentally eliminating all sources of conflict.
She said: "Let us jointly launch an undertaking for the renaissance of Chinese civilization, founded on Chinese culture and focused on harmony and coexistence. Both sides should jointly research and promote various institutions and initiatives that help eliminate disputes and create peace, turning successful experiences into examples for other regions of conflict around the world to emulate."