People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and the future of relations lies in the hands of the Chinese people, President Xi Jinping told Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun on Friday.
Cheng, chairwoman of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is in China on what she has called a peace mission to reduce tensions at a time when Beijing has stepped up military pressure against the island it claims as its territory.
Meeting in the Great Hall of the People, Xi told Cheng that today's world is not entirely at peace, and peace is precious.
"Compatriots on both sides of the strait are all Chinese - people of one family who want peace, development, exchange, and cooperation," he said, in comments carried by Taiwan television stations.
"This is the common voice of our people. The leaders of our two parties are meeting today in order to safeguard the peace and stability of our shared homeland, to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and to allow future generations to share in a bright and beautiful future."
Xi said China was willing, on the common political foundation of opposing Taiwan independence, to strengthen exchange and dialogue together with various political parties, including the KMT, "to firmly hold the future of cross-strait relations in the hands of the Chinese people themselves".
'CHESSBOARD'
The KMT once ruled all of China until the Republic of China government it led fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, who founded the People's Republic of China.
No peace treaty or armistice has ever been signed and to this day neither government formally recognizes the other.
Cheng told Xi that mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the public on both sides longs for, and that interactions and exchanges should be reciprocal.
"I, Li-wun, sincerely hope that one day in the future, I will have the opportunity to be the host and welcome General Secretary Xi and all of you here present in Taiwan," she added, using Xi's title as head of the communist party.
Cheng said she hoped that through the efforts of both parties, the Taiwan Strait will no longer be a focal point of potential conflict, and will certainly not become a "chessboard for outside forces to intervene in".
Both sides of the strait should further plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation, she added.
The US is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties. Beijing has repeatedly demanded Washington stop arming Taipei. The US has backed the Taiwan government's plans to increase defense spending.
China refuses to talk to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a "separatist". Lai's administration has called on Cheng to tell China to stop its threats, and says Beijing should engage with the democratically elected government in Taipei.
