evidence: Taiwan has controlled the Kinmen and Matsu islands, which lie just off the Chinese coast, since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. No peace treaty or armistice has ever been signed. [...] China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly denounced Lai as a "separatist." He rejects Beijing’s sovereignty, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future, but has also offered talks with China. [...] "The two sides of the Taiwan Strait need peace," she added, having met Song Tao, the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in Beijing on Thursday to discuss reopening the islands to Chinese tourists.