Mainland's Taiwan affairs official meets former KMT chairperson

HANGZHOU -- Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on Friday met with Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang party, in the city of Hangzhou.

Hung is in the capital city of Zhejiang Province to attend the sixth cross-strait youth development forum.

Song conveyed the greetings from Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, to Hung.

He said that as a stage for young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the cross-strait youth development forum has played a positive role in strengthening cross-strait communication among the youth and facilitating their joint efforts to advance national reunification and rejuvenation.

He stressed the importance of adhering to the 1992 Consensus, opposing "Taiwan independence," and bringing cross-strait relations back to the right track of peaceful development.

Noting that compatriots on both sides of the strait share the same blood, Hung said cross-strait exchanges and cooperation are unstoppable and cannot be cut by any force.

She also expressed the hope that more young people on both sides of the strait will become engaged in cross-strait exchanges and join hands to achieve the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.