China tries to woo US Congress

China tried to gain key US congressional support for greater cross-strait ties Thursday, as a leading Taiwan affairs official from China met the head of the new Congressional Taiwan Caucus for the first time.

Zhou Mingwei (周明偉), the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Beijing's State Council, met Robert Wexler, a Florida representative who leads the caucus, in Wexler's Capitol Hill office in what Wexler called a "very useful and constructive conversation," but one that broke no new ground in cross-strait or trilateral relations with Washington.

The caucus, which aims to be the voice of Taiwan in Congress, was formed in April and now has 116 members, about one-quarter of the House of Representatives membership.

Zhou, who arrived unexpectedly in Washington on Monday at the start of an apparently hastily prepared five-day trip, emphasized that Washington "should be very mindful of the sensitivities" of China toward Taiwan, Wexler told the Taipei Times. "That was a recurrent theme of his," he said.

Wexler said he urged Zhou to get Beijing to support Taiwan's entry into the WHO.

"I expressed to him that it was an issue that the mainland should join in and support Taiwan," Wexler said.

Zhou, however, said Taiwan was "approaching it from a status or sovereignty point of view, and that it was bigger than just a health issue," Wexler said.

Zhou stressed the need for greater cross-strait interaction. "I don't think he had any specific message" about cross-strait relations, Wexler said.

"He gave me his view of how the mainland and Taiwan could cooperate with one another and ultimately be joined together under one country," Wexler said.

"He did talk about the trade imbalance between the mainland and Taiwan. He talked about the need to increase relations between Taiwan and the mainland. He talked about the unification of families. He talked about the great pain that is caused by a division amongst Chinese blood. And he [said] that many Taiwan business people wanted there to be greater relations and greater contacts, but that the Taiwan government prevented it," Wexler said.

Zhou also mentioned direct links, saying there should be direct flights between Taiwan and China as well as "all kinds of communications and transportation."

While Zhou did not offer any change in basic cross-strait policy, "the only difference is that he has a manner in which he communicates that seems more reasonable," Wexler said. "I think he's very thoughtful, and he seems to be quite rational. It was an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas in a very respectful way."

During his trip, Zhou also met with aides to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

It is the second Washington visit by Zhou this year, raising questions about the purpose of the trip. Some speculate that Beijing is unhappy with the performance of its embassy in Washington, following a string of pro-Taiwan actions by Congress and the George W. Bush administration.