Mayor Chen Chu of the southern city of Kaohsiung met with China’s top Taiwan policymaker—Zhang Zhijun—on Friday.
Zhang is the head of China’ s Taiwan Affairs Office. During the meeting, the mayor briefed Zhang about Taiwan’s democratic development. She told him that Taiwan’s democracy didn’t just fall from the sky, and that people in Taiwan have struggled to implement it. She also called on Zhang to listen to different opinions in Taiwan.
“Cross-strait exchanges should involve more understanding and listening to one another. Relations can further stabilize through mutual understanding," said Chen.
As a senior figure in the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chen said that the leaders of the DPP and the Communist Party of China understand that there are differences between the two parties. She said that both sides need to offer more goodwill gestures in order to help improve ties.
Meanwhile, Zhang said China knows the Taiwanese people value their own social institutions and way of life and that China also respects the Taiwanese people’s choices. He said that China welcomes exchanges with different political parties in Taiwan in order to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.
