Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday met with Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing, state media said.

Ma and a delegation of 20 Taiwanese students were on a “journey of peace” to the mainland to calm tensions with Beijing when he met Xi in the afternoon.

The meeting between current and former leaders was rare, and the first since a landmark cross-strait summit between Xi and Ma in 2015, when the latter still held power.

Prior to Ma’s departure from Taiwan on 1 April, he said the trip aimed to promote youth exchanges and to “reduce hostility and accumulate goodwill” with Beijing.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

China-Russia ties

China vowed Wednesday it would not accept “criticism or pressure” over its ties with Russia, after Washington warned that it will hold Beijing responsible if Moscow makes gains in Ukraine.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Tuesday that Washington would “not sit by and say everything is fine” after Beijing renewed pledges of cooperation with Moscow during a visit by Russia’s top diplomat.

In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning insisted that “China and Russia have the right to engage in normal economic and trade cooperation.”

“This kind of cooperation should not be interfered with or limited, and China also does not accept criticism or pressure,” she added on Wednesday.

The two countries have in recent years ramped up contacts, and their strategic partnership has only grown closer since Moscow’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Analysts say China holds the upper hand in the relationship with Russia, with its sway growing as Moscow’s international isolation deepens as its war drags on.

On Tuesday, the two said they would strengthen strategic cooperation as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with Xi and top diplomat Wang Yi.

Xi told Lavrov that China attached “great importance” to relations with Moscow and “stands ready, with Russia, to strengthen bilateral communication, (and) strengthen multilateral strategic coordination,” according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Xi and President Vladimir Putin have agreed to maintain “close exchanges” to ensure the steady development of their ties, the readout said.