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February 18, 2014

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Mainland ‘positive’ about meeting between Xi, Ma

The Chinese mainland remains positive and open about a possible meeting between leaders from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, a mainland spokeswoman said yesterday.

Both sides hope to see such a meeting at an early date to boost peaceful development of cross-Strait ties and benefit the Chinese nation and people from both sides, said Fan Liqing of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO).

Fan was responding to a question about the timing of a possible meeting between President Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang party.

A reporter asked that if the mainland did not want the two leaders to meet at the informal economic leaders’ meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation this year in Beijing, what kind of occasion would be appropriate for the meeting.

Fan said the APEC leaders’ meeting had its own rules and she suggested issues should be handled in accordance with relevant memorandum of understanding.

Last Tuesday, the chief officials on cross-Strait affairs from the mainland and Taiwan met formally for the first time since 1949. Fan hailed the meeting between Zhang Zhijun, SCTAO director, and Wang Yu-chi, Taiwan’s mainland affairs leader, as “an important step” for promoting comprehensive development of cross-Strait relations.

“There will be a second and third step after this one,” the spokeswoman said.

Zhang and Wang’s meeting focused on settling prominent problems in cross-Strait exchanges in a timely manner, Fan said. Sensitive political issues, however, should be resolved through political dialogue and negotiations.

She said last week’s events achieved important results, with the mainland and Taiwan agreeing to regular communication between their cross-Strait affairs departments.

 




 

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