Mainland's Taiwan affairs official meets with former KMT chairperson

NANJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese mainland official Song Tao met here on Thursday with a delegation led by Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party.

Song, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, stressed that despite the complex and challenging situation across the Taiwan Strait, the shared aspiration of compatriots on both sides for closer ties and more frequent exchanges remains unchanged.

The fundamental fact that both sides of the Strait belong to one China remains unchanged, and the historical trend that the two sides of the Strait must and will be reunified remains unchanged, he added.

Song reiterated that the mainland will adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, firmly oppose "Taiwan independence" and external interference, safeguard peace and stability across the Strait, expand cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation and deepen integrated development.

Hung said that people on both sides of the Strait are all Chinese.

She expressed the hope that the two sides will jointly uphold the one-China principle, oppose "Taiwan independence," strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and work together toward the goal of national reunification and rejuvenation.