China says it will resume some ties with Taiwan after visit by opposition leader

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right shakes hands with Kuomintang (KMT) party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP) 2026-04-12T05:37:19Z 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" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="78164" data-entity-type="organization">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. (