President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on people of the mainland and Taiwan to unite to safeguard peace, as he met with a Taiwanese political delegation to attend events for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan ruling party the Kuomintang (KMT), and other Taiwanese officials are in Beijing for a military parade and other activities commemorating the WWII anniversary and that of victory in the overlapping Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said during the meeting that victory in the counter-Japan war was "China's first complete victory against foreign invasion in modern times" and that it was only possible through the efforts of the entire nation, including those of Taiwan.
