Taiwan's former President Ma Ying-jeou has reaffirmed that Taiwan and China should uphold the view that both belong to "one China."

Ma met Song Tao, the director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, in the city of Wuhan in the inland Chinese province of Hubei on Thursday.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency says Song told Ma that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of one family.

Song emphasized that China resolutely opposes what he called "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and interference from external forces.

Ma said people on both sides belong to the same Chinese nation. He said the two sides must maintain exchanges, cooperate and do everything possible to avoid war and conflict.

Ma, a member of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang, was president from 2008 to 2016. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015, when they affirmed the "1992 Consensus."

The Consensus refers to what's described as a confirmation between the Kuomintang and China that there is "one China." The Kuomintang was in power when the Consensus formed.

Analysts say Ma is seeking to demonstrate to voters ahead of Taiwan's presidential election next January that the Kuomintang has China's ear.

Ma's meeting with Song comes as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is stopping in the United States on her way to Guatemala and Belize, two Central American nations with diplomatic ties to Taiwan.

She is expected to stop again in the US next week to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before returning to Taiwan.