BEIJING, April 12 – Following a diplomatic visit by Taiwan’s main opposition party leader, China announced Sunday a package of 10 new incentive measures aimed at strengthening ties with the island nation.
The announcement came after Cheng Li-wun, who leads Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) party, completed her trip to mainland China where she held discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping focused on promoting peace and reconciliation between the two regions.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, the new measures would “explore” creating regular dialogue channels between the KMT and China’s Communist Party, work toward fully restoring air travel between the regions, and grant travel permissions for residents of Shanghai and Fujian province to visit Taiwan.
The package also includes plans to streamline inspection procedures for food and seafood imports, though Xinhua emphasized this would require a political commitment to “opposing Taiwan independence.”
Chinese officials indicated they would permit Taiwanese television programming, documentaries, and animated content to be broadcast, provided the material demonstrates “correct orientation, healthy content, and high production quality.”
Taiwan’s government has not yet responded to China’s announcement.
Beijing maintains its refusal to engage with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, whom Chinese officials label a “separatist.” Lai has consistently rejected China’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, which operates as a democratic government.
Both governments have pointed fingers at each other regarding the failure to restart major Chinese tourism to Taiwan since COVID-19 restrictions ended.
Taiwan has previously criticized China for blocking certain agricultural and seafood imports, arguing that Beijing has used questionable justifications related to pest and disease prevention to restrict trade.
