China's Xi meets Taiwan's ruling party head

China today called for unification of Taiwan with the mainland, as Beijing's new leader Xi Jinping met Lien Chan, the leader of the Taiwan's ruling party, to warm up ties between the two estranged sides.
"If the brothers are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal," Xi, the new General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) told Lein, honorary chairman of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang party.
Lein is on a rare goodwill tour of China to firm up the ongoing peace process between the two sides, separated in 1949 after a bitter war between Communists and democratic forces.

While warming up to Taiwan, China would stick to one China policy, 59-year-old Xi said.
"It is the duty of the new CPC leadership to continue promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties and the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," Xi said.
"We will maintain consistency in policies toward Taiwan, by unswervingly upholding the one-China principle and continuing to promote cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation," Xi, who would be taking over as the Chinese President next month told his guest.

The compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait can cooperate in realising the "Chinese dream", Xi was quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency as saying.

While Taiwan island, officially known as Republic of China (ROC) remained independent after its separation, China firmly followed a one-China policy making it a corner stone of its foreign policy restricting diplomatic space for Taiwan to be recognised by the world.
For a long time both sides had military tensions as Taiwan remained a close ally of the US.
The two, however, worked for improvement of cross-strait ties in the last few years with series of initiatives, including a free trade treaty.
The relations improved to such an extent that over 70,000 mainland Chinese visited Taiwan in the last ten days to celebrate the Chinese New Year, celebrations of which were ended yesterday.

Xi said the CPC is aiming for new achievements in cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, thus bringing welfare to compatriots of both the mainland and Taiwan.
Unremitting efforts will be made to consolidate and strengthen the political, economic, cultural and social foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, Xi said.
Nothing can cut the blood bond between Mainland and Taiwan compatriots who all belong to the Chinese nation, and nothing can change the fact that both sides on the Taiwan Strait belong to one China, he said.