Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday offered an olive branch to Beijing by appointing a pro-China politician to represent Taipei at the forthcoming APEC Summit (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). The annual Asia-Pacific summit will be held next month in Peru. 

The pro-Chinese politician is James Soong, who is founder of the People First Party. His party is known for having a soft stance towards Beijing and is a break-away faction of the China-friendly opposition Nationalists.    

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"Soong's rich academic background, experience, and contacts will en able him to precisely convey to the international community the all-round status of our development," the Taiwanese Presidential Office said in a statement.

Soong's pro-Chinese stances are often criticized by Tsai's hard-line Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which believes in protecting Taiwan's sovereignty against China.   

However, Tsai is also known to be a shrewd negotiator, and her decision to appoint Soong is likely a move to improve current strains in cross-strait relations. The cross-strait relations have been on a nose-dive ever since Tsai took office earlier this year.

Tsai's refusal to publicly acknowledge the One China Principle is the main reason for current tension between Taipei and Beijing.

Last month a United Nations aviation agency refused to invite Taiwan for an important summit, allegedly at the behest of China. 

China does not accept Taiwan's sovereignty but considers it a breakaway faction that is waiting for unification with mainland China. Taiwan separated from China after the end of a bitter civil war in 1949 and since then has been staking its claim as a sovereign country.   

TagsTaiwan, china, Cross-Strait relation, Taiwan and China, Tsai Ing-wen