KMT and communists agree to forge closer ties

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Taiwan's KMT, enemies since the civil war half a century ago, vowed yesterday to build closer ties in high-level talks here, KMT officials said.

KMT Vice Chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄), the most senior KMT official to visit China since the end of the war in 1949, met with Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛), said his spokesman.

The meeting came as the KMT, together with the People First Party and the New Party, is pushing for the impeachment of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) over the cancellation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四).

Chen has infuriated Beijing by refusing to embrace its "one China" policy, which says Taiwan is part of Chinese territory.

Wu's spokesman, Li Qingping (李慶平), said Qian and Wu agreed the KMT and CCP should begin holding high-level academic forums to discuss cross-straits relations.

Frequent exchanges between the KMT's think tank, the National Development Foundation, and Chinese government think tanks will be held, Li said.

"Through academic research, we will present our views and maybe we can come to a consensus about some issues which we can then deliver to both governments," Li said.

Since Chen won the March election, cross-strait dialogue has ground to a halt as Chen has refused to accept Beijing's demand to recognize the "one China" principle.

In the past, dialogue has been channeled through Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across Taiwan Straits.

Qian yesterday also agreed to Wu's suggestion that a "brother city" relationship should be established between Shanghai and Taipei by next year, Li said.

The term "sister city" was not used because it generally refers to relations between cities from two countries, Li said.

The decision must be approved by the Taipei City Council, Li said.

In a meeting Wednesday with Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's Cabinet, Chen told Wu there would be no peace in the Taiwan Strait if Taiwan declared independence, Li said.

He added that both Qian and Chen had kept up with the recent impeachment proceedings in Taiwan, but that neither made any comment about it.

Wu insists the main purpose of his visit to China was to attend a conference on the ethnic Hakka clan, held in southern Fujian province earlier this week.

He is expected to be in China until Tuesday and has said he hopes to meet with Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民).

Since Chen's victory, Beijing has been rolling out the red carpet for Chen's opponents. The move has been interpreted by analysts as an attempt to isolate Chen and pressure him into accepting its "one China" principle.