By KUNA
Tokyo : Chinese President Hu Jintao and Taiwan’s vice president-elect Vincent Siew held a historic meeting, the highest-level contact ever between the two governments since they split at the end of a civil war in 1949, China’s state press reported Sunday.
The meeting was held on China’s Hainan Island late on Saturday on sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia, an economic conference summit for Asian political and business leaders, said Xinhua News Agency.
“The economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan was facing a historic opportunity and needed joint efforts from both sides for further progress,” Hu told Siew, according to Xinhua.
“The cross-Straits economic exchanges and cooperation had achieved a prominent progress after 20 years of development. But in recent eight years, our relations suffered twists and turns for reasons known to all, and people on both sides were not willing to see that,” Hu noted.
“The mainland would also make efforts to push forward negotiations on weekend charter flights and mainland tourists’ travel to Taiwan.” For his part, Siew said the economies of the mainland and Taiwan were closely related, and the development of trade and economic relations had contributed to cross-Straits stability. “I hope the weekend charter flights program would be launched as soon as possible and mainland tourists would soon travel to Taiwan,” Siew said, adding that direct flights and normal trade ties had become an inevitable choice.
Siew and Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s president-elect, to be inaugurated May 20, have vowed to improve ties with China after eight years of pro-independence rule by Chen Shui-bian, who took a harder line toward Beijing.
The new administration is expected to work for warmer relations and establish closer trade ties, direct air and tourism links and a peace treaty with mainland.
China and Taiwan separated six decades ago, but Beijing still sees Taiwan is part of its territory, and has threatened to use force if the island moves towards declaring independence.