BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cross-Strait institutional dialogue was suspended because Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities rejected its political foundation, which is the one-China principle, a mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Previous cross-Strait consultations had been conducted on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, in response to the DPP's claims that the mainland had unilaterally halted institutionalized consultations and restricted travel and exchanges.
The DPP, since coming to power in 2016, has adopted a secessionist line and refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which "unilaterally undermined" the basis for cross-Strait dialogue, leading to the suspension of institutionalized talks and communication mechanisms, she noted.
Furthermore, the DPP authorities have restricted cross-Strait travel and cooperation in various fields, she said, adding that such measures had impacted the interests of people and businesses in Taiwan.
"The DPP is accustomed to distorting facts, shifting the blame and turning accusations back on others," she said.
The Taiwan question stems from a full-blown civil war fought between the forces led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) about eight decades ago. In 1949, the remnants of the defeated KMT retreated to Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China was founded under the leadership of the CPC.
The unresolved civil war and foreign interference have left the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in a prolonged state of political confrontation, though the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory has never changed.
The two sides had established institutionalized communication channels and reached agreements on a range of issues before the DPP took office in 2016. The mainland has repeatedly called for resumption of cross-Strait dialogue on the basis of the 1992 Consensus.
Regarding the mainland's new regulations governing entry and exit, which took effect on Sept. 15, Zhu said these regulations would provide a clearer legal framework for travel between the mainland and Taiwan.
Repeated warnings from the DPP authorities about the new regulations were only aimed at deterring Taiwan residents from visiting the mainland, to prevent them from seeing through the DPP's disinformation attempts, she said.
About 2.85 million visits to the mainland by Taiwan residents were recorded in the first half of 2026, up 24.9 percent year on year.
"The steady flow of Taiwan people traveling between the two sides is the clearest demonstration of how absurd the DPP authorities' efforts to restrict and obstruct cross-Strait exchanges are," she said. Enditem
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