Chinese President Xi Jinping takes pacifying line on Taiwan as hawks call for force
Xi steers clear of harsh rhetoric in talks with former KMT chairman Lien Chan to appeal to the Taiwanese public, analysts say
Chinese President Xi Jinping has struck a more conciliatory note in his latest meeting with a former senior Taiwanese politician in a bid to pacify the island’s public, as voices grow on the mainland to reunify the two sides of the strait by force, analysts said.
In a meeting in Beijing on Friday with Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan’s mainland-friendly Kuomintang, Xi said: “We have the confidence and ability to keep a firm hold on the correct direction, work for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and advance the process toward the peaceful reunification of China.”
The tone was a contrast to more hawkish mainland voices that have grown louder as the United States has stepped up intervention on Taiwan over the past few months and tensions have simmered between Taipei’s pro-independence administration and Beijing.
Observers in Beijing and Taipei said Xi was trying to tone down the rhetoric and stop it from having a real impact on cross-strait relations.
On Monday, Taiwan’s top official on cross-strait ties, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong, set off for the United States on a nine-day visit to improve communication between Taipei and Washington, Central News Agency reported.