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BEIJING: China and Taiwan began their first formal talks in a decade
here Thursday, their latest step in a rapprochement that is likely
to see the long-time rivals quickly deepen trade and tourism ties.
With big smiles and a warm handshake, the chief
negotiators from each side began the two days of talks in
Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse that often serves as
China’s choice for conducting high-level diplomacy.
“As long as we have mutual trust and
understanding . . . these talks are going to become an important
communication mechanism for cross-strait development,” chief
Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin said before the media was ushered out.
The talks, suspended since the mid-1990s, are
resuming as part of a dramatic warming in relations that began with
the election of Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan’s president in March.
Ma and his Kuomintang party swept to power
promising closer ties with China, following eight years of tensions
across the straits as then-Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian tried
to steer the island closer toward independence.
China and Taiwan split at the end of a civil war
in 1949, and the mainland’s ruling Communist Party ratcheted up
threats during Chen’s reign that it was prepared to use military
force to bring about reunification.
But Ma, who began his term in May, has managed
to begin letting some steam out of the pressure-cooker environment
between China and Taiwan that made their relationship one of the
world’s potential military flashpoints.
Agreement to restart the talks was reached when
Chinese President Hu Jintao met Kuomintang chief Wu Poh-hsiung in
Beijing last month.
That in itself was a historic event, as it was
the first meeting between the heads of the ruling parties of each
side since Kuomintang forces retreated to the island in 1949 and the
communists took power in Beijing.
Direct trade and tourism links have been
severely restricted ever since, but this week’s talks in Beijing
are expected to see some tentative steps toward changing that
situation.
One of the top items on the agenda is
establishing regular direct flights between the mainland and China.
Except for national holidays, people wanting to
travel less than 200 kilometers from the mainland currently have to
make a much longer journey with a stopover in Hong Kong.
Taiwan media reported that the two sides will
discuss establishing 18 direct flights a week between China and
Taiwan.
As many as 3,000 Chinese tourists would be
allowed to fly to Taiwan a day, under the plans due to be discussed
in Beijing that were first published in the Taiwanese press and
carried again in China’s state-run media on Thursday.
Taiwan is pushing for the first of these
visitors to arrive on the island on July 4.
Taiwan’s chief envoy to the talks, Chiang
Pin-kun, also said ahead of the talks that he would raise the issues
of starting direct chartered cargo flights and allowing island’s
financial institutions to operate on the mainland.
Chiang is expected to meet Hu today.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said
agreements on some of the issues being discussed would be formally
reached today, the final official day of the dialogue.
Ma’s overtures are seen to be as much about
economic issues as political, because closer ties with China would
help inject fresh cash and momentum into Taiwan’s economy as it
battles the US-led global downturn.
The two sides have already built up strong
economic links despite the long political freeze. Since 1991,
approved Taiwan investment on the mainland has risen by a factor of
nearly 60, standing at $9.97 billion in 2007.
-- AFP
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