Xi Hosts Former Taiwanese Prez In Beijing, Says Nobody Can Stop Reunion

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held rare talks with the pro-China former president of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, saying that any external interference could not stop the reunion of the two countries, CNN reported.

"Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese people. There is no grudge that cannot be resolved, no issue that cannot be discussed and no force that can separate us," Xi told the former Taiwan president.

"External interference cannot stop the historic trend of the reunion of the family and the country," he added.

Ma Ying-jeou, who led Taiwan from 2008 to 2016 and is currently in Beijing as part of an 11-day tour of China, met Xi on Wednesday afternoon, CNN reported citing state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The carefully choreographed moment was steeped in political symbolism - it was the first time a former Taiwanese president was hosted by China's top leader in Beijing since Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) fled to Taipei in 1949.

It was also the first meeting between Xi and former KMT leader Ma, since their historic summit in Singapore in 2015.

But their reunion also highlights the widening political divide across the Taiwan Strait and how Xi's ever-more aggressive posture toward Taipei has driven more Taiwanese away from China, according to the report.

In his opening remarks, Xi praised Ma for opposing 'Taiwanese independence', promoting cross-strait exchanges and agreeing that both sides of the strait belong to 'one China'.

In response, Ma said that although two sides of the strait developed under different systems, the people both belong to the Chinese nation, CNN reported.

"If a war breaks out between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, it will be an unbearable burden for the Chinese nation," he said, adding, "I sincerely hope that both sides respect the values and way of life treasured by the people and maintain peace across the strait."

But the appeal of a shared Chinese identity has waned considerably in Taiwan, as Xi ramps up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on its democratic island neighbour.

That trend was underscored in January when Taiwanese voters shrugged off warnings by China and handed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a historic third term by electing Lai Ching-te, who has long faced Beijing's wrath for championing Taiwan's sovereignty,

CNN reported that since then, Beijing has poached another of Taipei's dwindling number of diplomatic allies while ramping up patrols around Taiwan's frontline islands after two Chinese fishermen drowned in the nearby waters while continuing to fly its fighter jets near the self-ruled island.

Ma's meeting with Xi also coincides with a frenetic week of diplomatic activity in Washington, where President Joe Biden will host the first-ever leaders' summit between the US, Japan and the Philippines, CNN reported.

Joint concerns over China's increasing assertiveness under Xi, including toward Taiwan, are a key driver of that summit.

A senior source in the Taiwanese government told CNN that Beijing pushed back the meeting from Monday to coincide with the summit between Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday. (ANI)