Beijing, Jan 16 (EFE).- Chinese President Xi Jinping called for rapprochement efforts toward Taiwan after the island’s incumbent Democratic Progressive Party, critical of Beijing, won last weekend’s general elections through William Lai.

In an article published Tuesday, the president also urged “strengthening patriotic and reunification forces,” state agency Xinhua published.

Xi spoke of the United Front Work Department – tasked with garnering support from organizations outside mainland China, namely Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – to “develop and improve China’s political system.”

The front seeks to unite social forces that support the Chinese Communist Party and its leadership, both within China and abroad, although some Western think tanks accuse it of influencing foreign societies and intimidating Chinese residents in foreign countries.

The Chinese leader condemned separatist acts and Taiwan’s independence and called on the reunification of the island with mainland China.

Xi also stressed the importance of “fostering the sense of community of the Chinese nation among different ethnicities.”

Lai, until now Taiwan’s vice president, won Saturday’s polls with 40.05 percent of the votes, beating opposition Kuomintang candidate Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je of the People’s Party of Taiwan.

The president-elect said these elections showed the international community that the Taiwanese chose to remain “on the side of democracy.”

Taiwan – where China’s army withdrew after defeat at the hands of communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a rebellious province. EFE

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