Beijing official tells media from both sides of Taiwan Strait to advance reunification

More than 110 media representatives and academics from both sides attend Cross-Strait Media Summit in Beijing to discuss ‘new landscape’

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More than 110 media representatives and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait attended an event for media and academic representatives which carried the theme “Cross-Strait Media Integration and Development in the New Landscape”. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:08pm, 1 Nov 2024Updated: 5:30pm, 1 Nov 2024

Beijing’s Taiwan affairs chief urged members of the island’s media to contribute to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

At the Cross-Strait Media Summit in Beijing on Thursday, Song Tao, director of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said media professionals on both sides should “fulfil their social responsibilities, enhance mutual understanding between compatriots on both sides, and build a shared consensus that both sides are Chinese”.

“[They] should continue to make new contributions to the peaceful and integrated development of cross-strait relations,” he said.

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Mainland state news agency Xinhua said that more than 110 media representatives and academics from both sides of the strait attended the event, which had the theme “Cross-Strait Media Integration and Development in the New Landscape”.

Meeting Taiwanese media representatives on Thursday afternoon, Song said that both sides’ media should adhere to objective reporting and fair commentary and “firmly promote cross-strait exchanges and integrated development, and advance the reunification of the motherland”, according to Xinhua.

In his speech addressing the event’s main forum on Thursday, Song pointed to President Xi Jinping’s recent call to promote cultural exchanges between the two sides.

Xi, who last month made an inspection trip to Fujian – a southern province that faces Taiwan – said efforts should be made to “enhance a shared sense of national and cultural identity among Taiwanese compatriots”.