Good News for Asia: China Begins to Make Peace with Taiwan
China will implement a series of measures to boost exchanges with Taiwan. This was reported on Sunday, the final day of a rare visit by a delegation from Taiwan’s opposition party to China.
Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu is the first party leader to visit China in a decade. He has faced criticism in Taiwan for the trip, where he has been accused of being overly pro-Beijing.
China’s new decision provides a breath of fresh air for Taiwan after Beijing cut off high-level contacts with Taiwan following the victory of the Democratic Progressive Party president in 2016. That party rejects Beijing’s claim that the self-governing island is part of its territory.
China has released a list of 10 measures to “promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and enhance the well-being of compatriots”. Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) will “promote the resumption of the pilot individual travel programme” to Taiwan’s main island for residents of Shanghai and Fujian province.
“In further potential enhancements to travel relations, TAO said authorities would promote the full reactivation of direct flights between Taiwan and various cities, including Urumqi, Xi’an, Harbin, Kunming, and Lanzhou,” Xinhua reported, as carried by AFP, on Monday (13/4/2026).
“China will also allow imports of Taiwanese dramas, documentaries, and animations, provided they are properly oriented, beneficial, and of high quality,” Xinhua said.
KMT Vice Chairman Chang Jung-kung said in a statement that the measures are “very welcome”. This, he said, aligns well with the expectations of various sectors in Taiwan.
“A significant push for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo said most of these measures “have long experienced intermittent openings and closures”. Moreover, there is no market mechanism or international norms.
“As in the past, China has once again failed to follow existing channels to negotiate with our government,” Kuo said in a statement.
“Will China, this time again, treat cross-strait affairs as a tool of ‘economic coercion’ and repeat its old tricks?” she added.
Meeting with Xi Jinping
The announcement came two days after Cheng’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Xi told Cheng during their talks that “the general trend of our compatriots on both sides of the Strait becoming closer, more integrated, and united will not change”.
Cheng echoed that sentiment at a subsequent press conference, calling on the younger generation to “avoid war” by “opposing Taiwan independence”. Beijing has intensified military pressure around Taiwan in recent years, deploying fighter jets and warships almost daily, and regularly conducting large-scale military exercises.