Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, met on Thursday with Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.

Song first conveyed greetings from Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, to Ma, and affirmed the important contributions he has made for the development of cross-strait relations.

The people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are members of one and the same family, said Song.

The 1992 Consensus should be upheld, he said, adding that efforts should be made to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and improve the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

The "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and interference by external forces should be resolutely opposed, Song stressed.

He also urged efforts to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and the overall interests of the Chinese nation, and to strive in unity for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

For his part, Ma expressed appreciation of Xi's greetings.

Ma said that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to the Chinese nation, and should join hands, on the basis of the established political foundation of the 1992 Consensus, to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations so as to promote lasting peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Straits, enhance the well-being of Chinese people on both sides and to jointly revitalize China.