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

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. 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.

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Divergent Death Toll Reports

Death toll estimates diverged sharply across sources. The Bangladeshi government and Reuters placed the figure at 28. 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.

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Survivors and Strike Call

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

Nasrin Begum said, We could hear them screaming but we could not reach them.

The Bangladesh Garment Workers' Federation called a nationwide strike.

This was not an accident. This was corporate murder, Akter said.

Labour Minister Tahmina Akhter pledged an immediate government investigation.

Firefighter Mahmud Iqbal said 47 people had been injured.

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Supply Chain Under Scrutiny

Rahman Textile produced clothing for European brands including Hessen and BrandBox. Both companies said they were deeply saddened. Hessen's compliance team had audited the factory in March.

Clean Clothes Campaign said the audit system was fundamentally broken. Rahman was being questioned about welded shut emergency exits.

Reporting for this sectionThe Guardian