The Kuomintang (KMT) chairperson Lydia Shih said that the issue of cross-strait unification was not touched upon during her recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During her visit to the United States, Lydia Shih was interviewed by NPR’s program "Here and Now." On the 12th, the KMT released a press statement announcing the details of the interview.
The topics discussed in the interview included the Shih-Xi meeting, the controversy over defense budget review, as well as the KMT’s stance against "Taiwan independence."
When asked about Xi Jinping’s past remarks that cross-strait unification is “unstoppable” and how she responded during their meeting, Shih said that she did not discuss the unification issue with Xi during her visit to mainland China.
When pressed as to why the issue was not discussed, she stated bluntly, "It is not possible to discuss this topic."
Shih explained that, in the past decade, all contact and dialogue across the strait has been completely suspended, with cross-strait tensions continuing to rise, almost to the brink of war and conflict. She emphasized that the most important thing is to pragmatically restart cross-strait dialogue in hopes of easing tensions and creating greater peace and stability.
Lydia Shih stressed that if war were to break out in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan would suffer extremely severe devastation, and countries such as the United States would also be drawn in. This could potentially lead to the outbreak of World War III, with the whole world suffering as a result. She hopes to make it clear to all circles in the United States that the KMT advocates for increased exchanges with Beijing and a path toward peace.