Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that relations between Beijing and Taipei were "grim" on September 26, urging the island's main opposition party to help seek "unification of the country".

China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary. Xi has describing the seizure of the island as "inevitable".

In a congratulatory letter to Eric Chu Li-luan – the newly elected leader of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party – Xi said the Communist Party of China and the KMT should collaborate under a "shared political basis".

"In the past our two parties insisted on '1992 consensus' and opposing 'Taiwan independence' … to promote peaceful developments in cross-strait relations," Xi said in the letter released by the KMT.

"At present the situation in the Taiwan Strait is complex and grim," he said, urging the parties to jointly seek peace and "the unification of the country".

In response, Chu said in a letter to Xi that the two sides should "seek common ground and respect their differences" to promote peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.