China Says It’s Ready to Enhance Ties With Taiwan Opposition

(Bloomberg) -- China said it is willing to forge closer ties with Taiwan’s main opposition party, underscoring recent efforts by Beijing to adjust its tough approach to the democratically run island.

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Song Tao, the head of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Kuomintang Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia on Thursday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Hsia also met Friday with Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning, the No. 4 official in China’s ruling Communist Party, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Song said China and the Communist Party are “willing to enhance exchanges and build up mutual trust with the KMT, and work with the KMT to promote relations between the two parties and two sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

The Mainland Affairs Council in Taipei said in a statement that Beijing was handling the talks with Hsia in a way that was “harming our sovereign dignity.” Beijing should “abandon coercive thinking towards Taiwan,” it added.

China’s is wooing the KMT as campaign season heats up for a presidential election in Taiwan in January 2024. Chinese leader Xi Jinping appears to be calculating that easing off would boost the chances of a candidate from the opposition, which shares the idea that Taiwan is part of China.

TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said Wednesday that her nation’s “policy on Taiwan is consistent and clear and won’t change based on Taiwan’s political situation.” Beijing has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control one day, by force if necessary.

One of the leading presidential candidates for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, Vice President William Lai, once described himself as a “political worker for Taiwanese independence,” the type of rhetoric that angers Beijing.

China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, last year compared the drive for independence to a charging rhinoceros that must be stopped in its tracks. He also criticized the US, Taiwan’s main military backer, for speeding the movement along.

Read: Xi Woos Taiwan Opposition Ahead of Pivotal Presidential Vote

Hsia’s meeting with Wang Huning during his nine-day trip shows the high priority China is placing on the visit. Wang said Taiwan independence is incompatible with peace and runs counter to the well-being of Taiwan compatriots, according to the CCTV report. China hopes to enhance communications with Taiwan to promote stability across the strait, he said.

KMT head Eric Chu said that the trip was aimed at talking with new officials dealing with Taiwan, and to try to resolve issues on agricultural and fishery products. Song recently took over as head of TAO, the Chinese government’s department for handling cross-strait affairs.

Beijing recently signaled it may resume shipments from more than 60 Taiwanese food companies that were among exporters it barred last year. The move would pull back on an unofficial punishment China has used to show displeasure with President Tsai Ing-wen for activities such as fostering ties with the US.

In a further sign China is changing tack on Taiwan, state media said on Friday the nation had restarted a passenger link between the coastal city of Quanzhou and the Taiwanese island of Kinmen. Two similar travel links resumed earlier.

Also: Xi’s Fiery Taiwan Rhetoric Raises Risk of War in His Third Term

Over his decade in power, Xi has ramped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Tsai. Beijing has cut off all direct communication with her government because it refuses to accept the idea that the island is part of China.

Tsai also frustrates Beijing by courting broader recognition for the island’s more than 23 million people, in part by hosting visits from high-profile figures. In August, a trip by then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi prompted Beijing to order unprecedented military exercises around the island, including sending missiles over Taiwan.

The Biden administration criticized those drills as “provocative,” raising concern of a broader conflict erupting.

Admiral Harry Harris, former head of US forces in the region, told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the US ignores the prospect of China invading Taiwan within years “at our peril.”

On Thursday Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told a Senate hearing that while China’s leaders “have intention” to attack, “I think we can get to the end of this decade without them committing major aggression against Taiwan.”

He earlier listed a range of activities the US is conducting in the region to bolster military preparedness, including securing access to more Philippine military bases this week.

--With assistance from Lucille Liu, Jessica Sui and Zibang Xiao.

(Adds information on Wang Huning’s meeting with Hsia in the second and ninth paragraphs)

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