| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
BEIJING: Taiwanese residents have been given the green light to take China's judicial exam to practice law on the mainland, state media reported on Wednesday, amid signs that Sino-Taiwan ties are warming.
The decision was announced by the Ministry of Justice.
Many Taiwanese want to take the exam and get qualifications to practice law in China, Ding Lu, director of China's National Judicial Examination Centre, told the official Xinhua news agency.
In recent years, residents and law professionals in the island south of China had enquired about the mainland judicial exam and expressed their wish to take part, Ding said.
The move would help promote cross-Straits exchanges and provide better legal services for compatriots living in both areas, Xinhua quoted Ding as saying.
The news will be of particular interest to Taiwanese lawyers, who have long complained about the lack of a licence to practice in China, despite rising demand as a growing number of their compatriots live there.
It also comes amid signs of a thaw in icy relations between China and Taiwan.
Chinese president Hu Jintao met Taiwan's vice president-elect Vincent Siew on Saturday in a landmark meeting on the sidelines of a regional forum in Hainan island.
The 20-minute chat was the highest-level contact between the two sides since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan's incoming president, said on Monday the talks had started to "thaw the ice" between the two rivals.
China has also said the meeting was significant in promoting the development of cross-Straits relations.
"We will continue to expand the scope and upgrade the level of cross-Straits economic and trade exchanges," Xinhua quoted Li Weiyi, spokesman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, as saying on Wednesday.
"We will actively promote the early realisation of direct links for mail, trade and transport services between the two sides, aiming to benefit people on both sides," he said.
Li also said China hoped that mainland companies could invest in Taiwan. - AFP/de
|
