Working together for people’s benefit
Print Edition
ADHERING to the 1992 Consensus and opposing “Taiwan independence” are the political foundations for cross-Strait relations, Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping said yesterday as he met the head of the island’s ruling Kuomintang party.
Xi welcomed KMT head Eric Chu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in the first such encounter in seven years.
Xi called for both sides to be on the alert for statements such as “one country on each side” and “one China, one Taiwan” which he said would not bring peace or development.
The 1992 Consensus refers to an agreement reached by authorities from both sides in November 1992 that there is only one China.
The Party and KMT should oppose any statements and actions that harm this political foundation and never let them compromise hard-earned peace and development, Xi said, adding that the two parties further explore mechanisms to maintain cross-Strait peace.
The two parties fought a civil war that ended in 1949 with Kuomintang troops fleeing to Taiwan.
Xi said Taiwan would receive “priority” on the mainland but did not give details.
“Our efforts to open up to Taiwan compatriots will be bigger,” he said.
He called for efforts to create more opportunities for ordinary people, small businesses, farmers, fishermen and young people who want to start their own career.
“We will continue to protect the legitimate interests and rights of Taiwan businesses on the mainland and create a better environment for their development,” he said.
He also proposed that the two sides make proper arrangements concerning Taiwan’s participation in regional economic cooperation without violating the “One China” principle. “We welcome Taiwan’s willingness to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,” Xi said.
Taipei’s application to join the AIIB as a founder member was rejected earlier, with the central government saying that the island could join later under an “appropriate name.”
Carrying on the same cultural tradition, people from both sides of the Strait should work to build a bridge between their heart and soul, Xi said.
More efforts should be made to ease exchanges between people, especially for young people to know each other, work with each other and become good friends, he said.
Chu affirmed that both Taiwan and the mainland are Chinese and belong to a community of shared destiny.
Chu expressed the hope that both sides can work together, on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, for regional peace, environmental protection and economic integration, so that the progress of cross-Strait relations will benefit more people.
Relations across the Taiwan Strait have been improving since Chu’s party returned to power in Taipei in 2008.
In 2005, Lien Chan made the first trip to the mainland by a KMT head since 1949.
The visit helped pave the way for warmer relations after the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou was elected in 2008. The same year, KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung visited the mainland, the last holder of the post to do so. In June 2010, the two sides signed a trade pact — the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement — widely seen as the boldest step yet toward reconciliation.
The KMT suffered its worst showing in local polls in November, and Ma eventually stepped down as party chief to be replaced by Chu.
Chu’s first visit to the mainland since he was elected KMT chairman in January has included a meeting with top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng and attendance at the 10th Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum in Shanghai.
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