The recent meeting between President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has won approval in Washington, David Lee (李大維), Taiwan's representative to the US, said on Tuesday.
Washington was very interested in the Chen-Ma meeting said Lee, adding that US government officials were thoroughly scrutinizing an American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) report on the discussion.
Chen and Ma held a rare public meeting on Monday, highlighting their differences over relations with China and opposing views on a multibillion-dollar US arms procurement package.
Lee, responding to a question from the press after presenting soon-to-retire chairman of the US Congress House International Relations Committee Henry Hyde with the Order of the Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on behalf of Chen, said that Washington was hoping to see more talks between the government and opposition parties over the next two years to facilitate the formation of consensus on economic and cross-strait issues.
He added that the issue of the scrapping of the National Unification Council (NUC) and unification guidelines was a thing of the past, and had not been brought up again by the US.
Concerning the meeting between Chinese leader Hu Jintao (
However, as China was likely to bring up the Taiwan issue during the talks, Taipei will be paying particular attention to how they develop.
Lee told reporters that he had yet to receive any directives from Taipei regarding making arrangements with US officials for Chen's planned trip to Central America in May.
Responding to comments made to the Chinese-language press by Assistant US Trade Representative for China Affairs Timothy Stratford that signing a Free Trade Agreement with Taiwan was not currently a US priority, Lee said that the preparations were an ongoing process, and not something that would necessarily bear fruit in the space of one or two years.
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