BEIJING: China on Sunday unveiled 10 new measures to enhance exchanges with Taiwan, including easing tourist curbs, allowing in “healthy” television dramas and facilitating food sales, following a visit by the island’s opposition leader.
The move comes at the end of a rare trip to China by Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s largest opposition party and the first of its leaders to visit in a decade. She met Chinese President Xi Jinping and spoke about the need for peace and reconciliation.
Beijing released the measures, which it said aim to “promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and enhance the well-being of compatriots”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The policies include exploring the establishment of a regular communication mechanism between the KMT and China’s Communist Party, promoting the full resumption of direct flights between Taiwan and cities such as Urumqi, Xi’an, Harbin, Kunming and Lanzhou, and restarting a pilot programme allowing residents from Shanghai and Fujian province to travel individually to Taiwan.
A mechanism will also be established to ease inspection standards for Taiwanese food and fishery products, although this is conditional on a political foundation of “opposing Taiwan independence”, Xinhua said.
China will permit the import of Taiwanese television dramas, documentaries and animations, provided they have “correct orientation, healthy content, and high production quality”.
KMT welcomes measures
The announcement came shortly before Cheng’s delegation concluded its six-day visit and departed Beijing for Taipei on Sunday afternoon. During her meeting with Xi, he said that “the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the Strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change”.
Cheng later echoed that sentiment, urging younger generations to “avoid war” by “opposing Taiwan independence”.
The KMT welcomed the measures, calling them a “gift” to the people of Taiwan. Vice Chairman Chang Jung-kung said they were “highly welcome” and aligned with expectations across various sectors, adding they would significantly boost peaceful cross-strait development.
‘Poisoned pills’
However, Taiwan’s government sharply criticised the move. The Mainland Affairs Council described Beijing’s so-called “unilateral concessions” as “poisoned pills” packaged as generous offers, stressing that exchanges should not be subject to political preconditions.
Presidential spokeswoman Karen Kuo said many of the measures had long been subject to intermittent openings and bans, lacking consistency with market mechanisms or international norms. She also questioned whether China would again use cross-strait policies as a tool of “economic coercion”.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026