China says it will resume some ties with Taiwan including more direct flights

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News/AP

April 12, 2026, 3:26 AM EDT


BANGKOK — China said Sunday it would resume some ties it had suspended with Taiwan such as direct flights to cities across China and imports of Taiwanese aquaculture products as the island's opposition party leader concludes her visit.

The Taiwan Work Office under China's Communist Party issued a statement saying it would explore setting up a longstanding communication mechanism between the Communist Party and Taiwan's Kuomingtang Party, and facilitate the import of Taiwan's aquaculture products, after it banned them in recent years.

Cheng Li-wun, the head of the Kuomingtang, and China's President Xi Jinping held a high-profile meeting Friday during which both called for peace without offering specifics. Taiwan is self-ruled but China claims the island as part of its territory.

Relations between China and Taiwan have been tense since 2016 when the Taiwanese public elected Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party as president. Since then, Beijing cut off most of its official dialogue with Taiwan's government in the capital Taipei and started sending military planes and vessels towards the island on a daily basis. The list of measures in the statement touches on ties that China had suspended in recent years as tensions increased.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/taiwan/china-will-resume-ties-taiwan-direct-flights-rcna317510

[paleotn]

1. Trade is better than ideology.

It's being practical. China learned that from Deng Xiaoping. Taiwan is another linchpin in the global economy. The center of computer chip design and production. China can't take it without killing that golden goose for themselves and everyone else. Better to just trade and not get all huffy. Taiwan is happy. China is happy. Lets just leave it at that.

[Pluvious]

3. That must certainly be a factor...

Disrupting TSMC would have enormous global repercussions

For China there's some intriguing lessons to be learned with the asymmetrical success of Ukraine in fighting off Russia, and it might be having a big impact on China's aspirations to invade Taiwan: China will have to invade by water, and the Ukrainian successes of sea based attack drones have been quite impactful on attacking warships both on the surface of the water and under it.

It seems pretty likely Taiwan is working on these capabilities...

[Igel]

2. The PCR is learning.

Make sure that you tie economic benefits to a country with support for a specific party.

It's what Trump offered with promising economic benefits for Hungary if Orban won.

(Then again, it's what the EU did in offering economic hardship and withholding of funds if the wrong party won in Hungary, so that's not really any different. Not for the first time. The EU likes to meddle in its constituent countries' politics on behalf of the "important countries".)