Zhang Zhijun (3rd L), head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, meets with a delegation of county and city officials from Taiwan in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
The Chinese mainland's new measures to increase exchanges with counties in Taiwan and remarks made by top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng showed a strong sense of responsibility, said experts from both the mainland and Taiwan.
"The refusal by Taiwan's current Democratic Progressive Party administration to recognize the 1992 Consensus has led to an impasse and even regression of relations across the Taiwan Strait, impairing the interests of compatriots from both sides," said Liu Guoshen, director of the Taiwan research institute at Xiamen University.
The delegation of county and city officials from Taiwan, who came to Beijing for a mainland visit, expressed their hope to continue the peaceful cross-Strait development and win-win cooperation of the past eight years based on the 1992 Consensus, which affirms that both sides of the Strait belong to one China.
The delegation includes officials from New Taipei City and the counties of Hsinchu, Hualien, Taitung, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli and Nantou.
"In light of the present halting of cross-Strait institutional communication, the visit shows the will of the people," Liu said.
When meeting with the delegation on Sunday, Yu Zhengsheng stressed that facing the new situation, the mainland will not change its policy toward Taiwan, including adherence to the 1992 Consensus, opposition to "Taiwan independence," and promotion of cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation.
Zhang Guanhua, deputy director of the Beijing-based Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Yu's remarks demonstrate the mainland's unswerving stance on matters of principle and its resolution and sincerity in boosting the welfare of people from both sides.
"The policies expounded by Yu will guide people across the Strait to remove disturbances and deepen exchanges among the people, political parties as well as counties and cities across the Strait on the basis of the 1992 Consensus," Zhang said.
Also on Sunday, the mainland announced eight measures to promote exchanges with the counties represented in the Taiwan delegation, such as support in holding farm produce fairs on the mainland, promoting tours to mainland people and cooperation in high-tech sectors and other fields.
Yang Kai-Huang, a cross-Strait relations expert at Taiwan-based Ming Chuan University, regarded the measures as "tangible and pragmatic."
"The newly unveiled measures show the mainland's concern and goodwill toward the people in Taiwan in the hopes of remedying the regression of cross-Strait relations as soon as possible," Yang said.
Both Yu's remarks and the new measures once again demonstrated that the 1992 Consensus is the anchor of cross-Strait ties, he said.
"It is impossible for cross-Strait relations and Taiwan to develop without the consensus," he said.
