People on both sides of the ​Taiwan Strait are Chinese and the future of relations lies in the hands of the Chinese people, ‌President Xi Jinping told Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun on Friday. Cheng, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is in China on what she has called a peace mission to reduce tensions at a time when Beijing has stepped up military pressure against the island it claims as ​its territory. Meeting in the Great Hall of the People, Xi told Cheng that today’s world is not entirely at ​peace, and peace is precious. “Compatriots on both sides of the strait are all Chinese – people of ⁠one family who want peace, development, exchange, and cooperation,” he said, in comments carried by Taiwan television stations.

Full report : China will not tolerate independence for Taiwan, Xi tells island’s opposition leader.