Any meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and the leader of Taiwan must be ``on our own soil,'' the government said yesterday, rejecting President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) suggestion that they hold a historic first meeting in a neutral foreign location.
"The Taiwan issue is an internal issue of the Chinese people, so any such meeting should only occur on our own soil," said Li Weiyi (李維一), spokesman of the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Li made the comment when asked about Chen's stated hope in recent weeks to meet Hu in a neutral setting, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Chen has not given details about which place he meant.
Li didn't specify whether that meant a meeting had to take place on the Chinese mainland.
Li said Beijing is willing to talk to any Taiwanese political figures so long as they declare that the two sides are "one China" -- a demand that Chen has rejected.
Also yesterday, Li said a New Party delegation will visit China on July 6-13, traveling to Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Dalian.
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