Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) met with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) for more than two hours in Beijing yesterday and agreed to a five-point "vision for cross-strait peace" based on the so-called "1992 consensus."
In the much-anticipated meeting, Hu and Lien talked as leaders of their respective parties, the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in private at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
At a press conference held directly after the meeting, Lien described his talks with Hu as "sincere and natural." The animosity between the CCP and the KMT is a thing of the past, and what is important is to work together to create the future, he said.
At the press conference, KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
The first point, Chang said, is an agreement between the CCP and the KMT to support the so-called "1992 consensus" and to support the resumption of cross-strait negotiation.
Both parties oppose Taiwanese independence and seek the peaceful stabilization of the Taiwan Strait and facilitate the development of cross-strait peace, Chang said. Both parties agree on the importance of resuming negotiations on an equal basis and on the need for cross-strait dialogue on common issues in pursuit of the common good of both countries, he said.
Second, the two parties agreed on the need to facilitate the end of the standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and on the establishment of a peace agreement, Chang said.
In order to do this, he said, the KMT and CCP have agreed to push for the establishment of mechanisms to promote peaceful and stable development of cross-strait relations, such as one for military affairs to avoid military conflicts.
Third, the two parties agreed to establish mechanisms to promote economic cooperation and cross-strait interaction, he said. Examples of economic cooperation agreed upon were the opening of direct transportation links, including direct flights, and the strengthening of investment and agricultural cooperation, he said.
Fourth, Chang said, the two parties agreed to push for negotiations on Taiwanese participation in international organizations and events. A priority, he said, would be Taiwanese membership in the World Health Organization, a position which Taiwan has long coveted but has been blocked by China.
The last point, Chang said, was a plan to establish a system for party-to-party communication and talks to continue the dialogue Lien and Hu began yesterday.
Both Lien and Hu emphasized the so-called "1992 consensus" in remarks prior to their closed-door meeting.
In his words of welcome to Lien, Hu called their meeting a historic moment for the both their parties and the beginning of a new era. He said the CCP welcomes anyone who acknowledges the "1992 consensus."
Indirectly slamming President Chen Shui-bian's (
"The KMT hopes to build a beautiful and bright future for both nations across the strait on the basis of the `1992 consensus,'" Lien said.
The so-called "1992 consensus" refers to an agreement supposedly made on "one China" during a meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between Taiwanese and Chinese representatives.
The KMT has said that both sides agreed verbally that there was only one China and that both sides would retain their own interpretation of that "one China." Neither the Chen administration nor the former KMT government ever accepted that there was such a consensus.
Also see stories:
Foreign minister criticizes Lien's trip
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
RSS