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Xi Jinping Meets Taiwan Opposition Leader Cheng Li-wun, Rejects Taiwan Independence

10 April, 2026.China.155 sources

Key Takeaways

Xi Jinping meets Taiwan's KMT chair Cheng Li-wun in Beijing.
Xi rejects Taiwan independence, reaffirms One China and peaceful cross-strait development.
Cheng Li-wun travels to China on a peace mission, accepting Xi's invitation.

Historic Xi-KMT Meeting

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Taiwan's main opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on April 10, marking the first high-level cross-strait engagement in a decade.

Xi framed the meeting as a mission to safeguard peace and promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

93.3 The Drive

Cheng, the Kuomintang's first sitting leader to visit China since 2016, echoed the importance of peace and opposition to Taiwan independence.

The meeting came amid heightened tensions following the 2024 election of DPP president Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing labels a separatist.

Xi reiterated that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one Chinese nation.

The two parties agreed on the common political foundation of opposing Taiwan independence.

Divergent Death Toll Reports

Death toll estimates diverged sharply across sources.

The Bangladeshi government and Reuters placed the figure at 28.

@globaltimesnews

The Dhaka Tribune and Guardian at 33.

Al Jazeera correspondents counted at least 41.

Police detained factory owner Faisal Rahman.

The Ministry of Labour announced 200,000 taka compensation for each family of the deceased.

Survivors and Strike Call

Survivors described workers pounding on locked metal doors as smoke filled the stairwells.

“During his meeting with Cheng Li-wun, the leader of the Kuomintang, the Chinese president said that the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the strait toward drawing closer and uniting will not change”