The US has a positive outlook on the upcoming trips to China by opposition party leaders, the US State Department said on Wednesday.
"Recent travels to China by Taiwanese individuals are positive steps," US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters during its daily press briefing in Washington. "We, I think, look favorably on and welcome steps in that direction."
The State Department's response comes just days before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) departure for Nanjing. People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) will follow closely in Lien's footsteps, heading to China in the next few weeks as well. Lien will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing next Friday.
According to a transcript of the briefing, Ereli indicated that the US was in favor of resolving the cross-strait stalemate through dialogue, and therefore welcomed the trips to China by "Taiwanese individuals."
He was responding to reporters' questions on whether it was appropriate for China to reach out only to opposition parties, and whether this might complicate cross-strait relations.
Ereli's remarks adopted a softer tone than outgoing US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall Schriver, who said on Tuesday that the visits would be productive only if they brought about dialogue between Beijing and the Chen administration.
"The United States, as a general matter, believes that dialogue is the way to resolve cross-strait tension," Ereli said.
He added that "the issue for us is people on both sides of the straits taking steps to come to understandings that are acceptable to both sides and that work to reduce tensions."
The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday issued a statement warning that Lien's description of the cross-strait status quo as a state of separate governance risked the nation falling into "the trap of the `one China' principle."
"Mr. Lien will hurt the Republic of China's status as a sovereign nation if he upholds the notion of `separate governance' across the Taiwan Strait without clearly articulating that the two sides are separately founded and separately governed, with neither falling under the jurisdiction of the other," the council statement said.
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