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BEIJING: China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi was on Tuesday appointed head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, the government's executive arm handling sensitive ties with the island, state media said.
Wang, a career diplomat who was ambassador to Japan at one of the most difficult periods in Sino-Japanese relations between 2004 and 2007, will head up the office at a critical time in relations between China and Taiwan.
Tensions between the two traditional rivals have eased substantially in the past few months, and the two have decided to resume talks next week, after a suspension of more than a decade.
Wang replaces Chen Yunlin, who was appointed head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, a quasi-official body that handles technical or business matters with Taiwan.
As head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, Wang will be responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to Taiwan.
The two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949 and China still claims Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification. It has in the past threatened to invade if the self-ruled island declares formal independence.
Relations between the two sides have improved significantly since Ma Ying-jeou assumed the presidency in Taiwan last month, as he has chosen a much more conciliatory approach with China than his predecessor Chen Shui-bian.
But Joseph Cheng, professor of political science at the City University of Hong Kong, said there were still big challenges for Wang, including protocol and military issues.
China, for example, has over 1,000 missiles along the coastline pointed towards Taiwan -- a point of contention for the island.
"Does Wang Yi have enough clout to pressure the People's Liberation Army? My answer is no, so he has to make sure he can persuade President Hu Jintao to push the military in making decisions," Cheng said. - AFP/ac
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