Photographer: Li Xueren / Xinhua News Agency / Getty Images
Photographer: Li Xueren / Xinhua News Agency / Getty Images
Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Fujian, Taiwan’s closest mainland province, amid tensions with the US over the democratically controlled island.
Xi toured a tea farm in the city of Wuyishan and linked its production to his campaign to raise the standard of living. “In the past, the tea industry was a pillar in your fight against poverty, and in the future it would have to become a pillar industry of rural revitalization,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Earlier, the president of China visited a park honoring Zhi Xi, a 12th-century poet and political thinker, saying: ‘Without the 5,000-for years Chinese civilization, how could we find the way to achieve today’s success? ”
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Fujian has the most important geographical significance for China because the ruling Communist Party of Taiwan – which sits about 130 kilometers away across a narrow strait – claims as its territory. Xi worked in Fujian from 1985 to 2002, rising from deputy mayor of Xiamen to provincial governor.
The US must stop “crossing lines and playing with fire” over Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in his annual newsletter earlier this month. The US has strong economic and security ties with the island.
– Assisted by John Liu and Jing Li