China, Taiwan to Resume Some Ties      04/13 06:12

   

   BANGKOK (AP) -- China said Sunday it would resume some ties it had suspended 
with Taiwan such as direct flights and imports of Taiwanese aquaculture 
products following a visit by the Beijing-friendly opposition leader of the 
self-ruled island.

   The Taiwan Work Office under China's Communist Party issued a statement 
saying it would explore setting up a longstanding communication mechanism 
between the Communist Party and Taiwan's Kuomingtang Party. It said it will 
facilitate the import of Taiwan's aquaculture products that it had previously 
banned.

   Cheng Li-wun, the head of the Kuomingtang, and China's President Xi Jinping 
held a high-profile meeting Friday during which they called for peace, without 
offering specifics. China claims the island as part of its territory and hasn't 
ruled out the use of force to annex it.

   Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees the relationship with 
China, said the measures that were announced, such as promoting a communication 
mechanism, were "political transactions" between the two parties that 
circumvented the government of Taiwan.

   "The government's position is clear: to ensure the interests of the nation 
and its people, all Cross-Strait affairs involving public power must be 
negotiated by both governments on an equal and dignified basis to be effective 
and truly protect the rights and well-being of the people," the Mainland 
Affairs Council said in response to the Chinese announcement.

   Relations between China and Taiwan, which remain split since 1949, have been 
tense since the election of pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen from the 
Democratic Progressive Party in 2016. Beijing cut off most of its official 
dialogue with Taiwan's government, and has started sending warships and fighter 
jets closer toward the island on a daily basis.

   In the statement, China said it plans to resume direct flights between 
Taiwan and mainland cities like Xi'an or Urumqi, although it remained unclear 
how the measures will be implemented without the approval of the Taiwanese 
government.

   China banned its citizens from individual trips to Taiwan in 2019. Taiwan's 
rules now require Chinese visitors to hold a valid resident visa from another 
country, like the U.S. or the European Union, to apply for a visitor visa.

   China also said it would work toward construction of a bridge that would 
connect the mainland to Matsu and Kinmen, Taiwanese islands that are closer 
geographically to China. The project is a longstanding proposal that Beijing 
has previously announced.

   China banned the import of Taiwanese pineapples in 2021, and since then has 
extended it to other fruits and products including the grouper fish, squid and 
tuna.

   After the initial ban on grouper, Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture said it 
approached China about making adjustments to ensure it met import requirements. 
China replied with a limited list of individual companies that were allowed to 
sell to China, but without explanation.