Landmark talks boost cross-Strait relations
Print Edition
China’s mainland and Taiwan hailed a new chapter in their relations and agreed at historic talks yesterday to set up representative offices as soon as possible.
The talks between Zhang Zhijun, head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, and Wang Yu-chi, Taiwan’s mainland affairs chief, were the first since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
The two-hour talks in the eastern city of Nanjing marked a major step toward expanding cross-Strait dialogue beyond economic and trade issues.
“The holding of this meeting marks a new chapter in our relations,” Wang told a news conference following the talks.
He described his meeting with Zhang as “an unimaginable occasion in earlier years.”
“Being able to sit down and talk is a really valuable opportunity, considering that the two sides were once almost at war,” Wang said.
Zhang told Wang both sides should have “a little more imagination” regarding relations.
“We meet under great attention and expectations and bear great responsibilities,” Zhang said.
Economic relationship
The two sides agreed to set up representative offices “as soon as possible” for the two organizations which deal with ties between the mainland and Taiwan.
The meeting was the result of years of efforts to improve political ties on the back of a burgeoning economic relationship.
“Both sides should make up our minds to never let cross-Strait relations again become tormented and never go backward,” Zhang said. “I believe that as long as we walk on the right road of peaceful development we should and certainly can get closer in the future.”
He said it had been agreed to open a regular communication channel between their departments, the result of deepening mutual political trust.
“I believe, with this arrangement, we will improve exchanges, understanding and mutual trust, and better handle outstanding problems in cross-Strait exchanges,” he said.
Explaining the mechanism, Wang said senior officials of the two departments could “just pick up their mobile phones and talk” instead of setting up a special hotline.
Zhang told Wang: “As chief officials on cross-Strait relations, we should talk more and understand each other better. I think people on both sides would welcome that.”
Zhang accepted Wang’s invitation to visit Taiwan.
Relations between the mainland and Taiwan stalled when the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after being defeated in a civil war.
Business and personnel exchanges resumed in the late 1980s, and in the early 1990s the two sides started to engage with each other through the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation, nongovernmental organizations founded in 1991 and 1990 respectively.
Cross-Strait relations have survived ups and downs over 65 years, evolving from military and political confrontation to the historic shift toward peaceful development in 2008, Zhang said.
“Today’s cross-Strait situation has been hard-earned through the efforts of generations. We should cherish it and work together to maintain this favorable momentum,” he added. “We should be determined to avoid any further fluctuations and setbacks.”
Nanjing is the burial place of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China, revered by both the mainland and Taiwan.
Wang will visit the Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum today before heading to Shanghai to give a speech and pay a series of courtesy calls. There were no plans for further talks between Wang and Zhang.
Trade between the two sides doubled to US$197.2 billion last year. Taiwan enjoys a US$116 billion trade surplus with the mainland. Taiwan companies have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the mainland, with companies such as Foxconn employing millions of workers making iPhones, Playstations and other popular goods.
Taiwan also benefits heavily from visits from mainland tourists, who travel across the 150-kilometer Taiwan Strait.
President Xi Jinping told a Taiwan envoy at an international gathering in Indonesia last year that political issues should not be handed down from generation to generation.
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