Mainland's Taiwan affairs official meets KMT vice chairperson

Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of the China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, met Andrew Hsia, vice chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, in Xuzhou City in east China's Jiangsu Province on Wednesday.

Hsia is on a trip to the mainland's Henan and Jiangsu provinces from March 29 to April 4 as the leader of a delegation from Taiwan. It's the first such visit to the mainland by a top official of the KMT this year.

Song said compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are members of one family, rather than enemies.

All separatist provocations are doomed to fail and the egregious acts of "Taiwan independence" separatists will be met with punitive measures, Song added.

The mainland will adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus and work together with the KMT and other political parties, organizations and people from various sectors in Taiwan to firmly oppose Taiwan secession and external interference, and deepen cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation to bring benefits to compatriots in Taiwan, Song said.

During the meeting, Hsia said both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, and there are no differences between the two sides that cannot be resolved.

"An important purpose of our visit is to convey the mainstream will of Taiwan's society, which calls for peace, development and exchanges. We believe this is an aspiration shared by compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and all Chinese people," Hsia said.

The KMT is willing to promote the peaceful growth of cross-Strait relations, based on the common political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing Taiwan secession, Hsia added.

Mainland's Taiwan affairs official meets KMT vice chairperson

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday that the country is at a critical stage and must achieve national unity, emphasizing that maintaining internal cohesion is of utmost importance.

In a televised address, Rodriguez called on the public to continue trusting the government under the current highly complex political circumstances.

Her statement comes in the wake of a January 3 military operation conducted by the United States, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were taken into custody and flown out of the country.

The operation resulted in at least 100 fatalities.

Rodriguez, who was sworn in as acting president two days later on January 5, framed her appeal for unity against this backdrop of external intervention.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information Freddy Nanez denounced the U.S. actions as a "war crime of the 21st century" when speaking at an international cultural event on Sunday.

Nanez condemned not only the January 3 airstrikes but also the associated cyber and electromagnetic attacks.

He accused the United States of violating international law through the forced removal of President Maduro and his wife, while attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, represent a flagrant breach of humanitarian norms.

He reiterated that the stigmatization and military attacks against Venezuela are driven by economic interests, particularly the desire to control its abundant natural resources.

Venezuelan acting president calls for national unity amid complex situation