| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
BOAO, China : Taiwan's vice president-elect said he and Chinese President Hu Jintao held "candid and harmonious" talks Saturday in the highest-level contact between the sides, and they had brought results.
Vincent Siew and Hu mainly talked about economic issues in their 20 minutes together, seen as an indicator of the incoming Taiwan government's ability to bring about better ties with giant China.
"The talk was friendly, candid, and harmonious, and there were results," Siew told reporters in a short press conference directly after meeting Hu.
He did not elaborate on what those results were.
The encounter, on the margins of a regional gathering on the south Chinese island of Hainan, was historic, according to Su Chi, a ranking member of the Taiwan delegation.
"Good chemistry, harmonious chemistry," Su said, when asked to describe the atmosphere of the meeting between Hu and a Taiwan delegation led by Siew.
The Chinese leader said as the talks opened that he was looking forward to discussing opportunities for economic cooperation.
"The current cross-Strait economic exchange and cooperation are faced with an important historical moment which requires both sides to work together," Hu said, after shaking hands with each member of the Taiwan delegation.
"I'm an old hand on Taiwan's economic issues," Siew told Hu in return. "I hope we can strengthen economic cooperation."
The encounter comes before Siew has taken up office in Taiwan, but after he was part of the winning ticket in elections last month as the running mate of president-elect Ma Ying-jeou.
Ma, of the Kuomintang Party, takes over as Taiwan's president after eight years under the rule of Chen Shui-bian, from the Democratic Progressive Party, whose pro-independence rhetoric irked Beijing.
"We're basically trying to break the ice that is eight years thick. We want to break the ice and usher in a new period in cross-strait relations with economics, trade and investment being the locomotive," Su said.
"We're starting off from a very deep-frozen relationship. So it's only wise to be prudent."
The encounter between Hu and Siew could herald a new chapter in relations since Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949, according to experts.
The United States, which is considered likely to become dragged into any armed conflict in the Taiwan Straits, welcomed the meeting before it even had started.
"We think that dialogue... is the best way forward," US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told reporters in Washington.
Siew has attended the forum five times before in this capacity, and has also met with Hu there previously.
With anticipation high ahead of Saturday's meeting, members of the Taiwan delegation had repeatedly stressed the Boao forum is mainly about economics.
"Don't expect anything too concrete. The time for the meeting is short. We shouldn't be too greedy, and we aren't greedy," Su said earlier.
The significance of the event would be to signal Taiwan's willingness to "start making friends again," he argued.
"We are an island and need to make friends. With many friends and few enemies, Taiwan has won. With many enemies and few friends, Taiwan has lost," said Su.
Ma, the more China-friendly of the two candidates in last month's Taiwan election, has pledged to improve relations with the mainland, increase trade, tourism and transport links, and work on a peace treaty to end hostilities.
At the same time, China has become Taiwan's top export market and biggest trading partner, with two-way trade last year reaching a record 102 billion US dollars.
Analysts say any meeting with Hu would help smooth political tensions that have hamstrung relations despite the increasingly close economic links.
- AFP /ls
|
