China says it will enhance exchanges with Taiwan

BEIJING

China will implement a series of measures to enhance exchanges with Taiwan, Beijing said Sunday on the final day of a rare visit by an opposition party delegation from the self-ruled island.

Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun is the party's first leader to visit China in a decade, although she has faced criticism in Taiwan from those who accuse her of being too pro-Beijing.

Beijing released a list of 10 measures to "promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and enhance the well-being of compatriots," state news agency Xinhua said, hours before Cheng's scheduled return to Taipei yesterday afternoon.

Among the policies authorised by Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) is an effort to "promote the resumption of the pilot program for individual travel" to Taiwan's main island for residents of Shanghai and Fujian province, Xinhua said.

The TAO said authorities will push for a "full resumption" of direct flights between Taiwan and various cities, including Urumqi, Xi'an, Harbin, Kunming and Lanzhou.

China will also allow the importation of Taiwanese dramas, documentaries and animations, although they must be "correctly oriented, wholesome and high-quality," Xinhua said.

The announcement came two days after Cheng's closely watched meeting with President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital.

Xi told Cheng during their talks that "the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change."

Cheng echoed that sentiment at a later news conference, calling on younger generations to "avoid war" by "opposing Taiwan independence."