Xi meets with KMT honorary chairman, calling national rejuvenation a “common goal”

BEIJING. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday called on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to “heal the historical trauma” and set the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as their common goal.While meeting with visiting Honorary Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) Party Wu Poh-Hsiung, Xi offered four proposals on furthering relations across the Taiwan Strait.First, the two sides should take the overall interests of the Chinese nation into consideration when assessing the overall situation of cross-Strait ties, he said.”Though the mainland and Taiwan are yet to be reunified, they belong to one China and are inseparable parts of the country,” he said.Safeguarding national territorial integrity and sovereignty is at the core of this goal, Xi said, stressing that the two sides should uphold the one-China framework.Second, the two sides should clearly recognize development trends throughout history in order to gain a better understanding of the future prospects for cross-Strait ties, he added.“The peaceful development of cross-Strait ties has become an important part of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Xi said.He called on the two sides to break free from out-dated concepts that do not suit the current situation, “heal the historical trauma” and put the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation as their common goal.In the third point, Xi noted that the mainland and Taiwan should enhance mutual trust, engage in favorable interactions, seek common ground and shelve differences, and be pragmatic and enterprising.The key to enhancing mutual trust, Xi explained, lies in fostering a shared perspective and position on upholding the one-China framework.To engage in favorable interactions, Xi said, both sides should safeguard the hard-won peaceful development of cross-Strait ties and resolve problems between them in a reasonable manner.“Seeking common ground and shelving differences” requires both sides to rally political wisdom, pool and expand consensus on promoting the development of cross-Strait ties and manage differences appropriately, Xi added.To prevent setbacks in the development of cross-Strait ties, he also urged both sides not to get stalled by difficulties or disturbances in advancing the relationship.