Alan D. Romberg’s latest essay, “From Generation to Generation: Advancing Cross-Strait Relations,” appears in the latest issue of China Leadership Monitor.

When PRC leader Xi Jinping met with the Taiwan’s former vice president, Vincent Siew, at the APEC leaders meeting in early October, he went beyond reiterating the standard position on the importance of promoting peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. Xi said that, in the “long term,” political differences between the two sides must be resolved and not be passed on from generation to generation. This essay explores that statement and its implications.