President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that now would be the best time to re-open dialogue between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
"We are hopeful that both sides can drop their animosity toward each other, shelve their ideological wrangling, co-exist peacefully and pursue common interests," Chen said in a speech delivered at the opening of a training workshop for senior intelligence officers.
Chen noted that China has just completed a leadership shakeup, while the Straits Exchange Foundation -- a quasi-official body authorized by the Taiwan government to handle cross-strait exchanges in the absence of official ties -- has also reshuffled its board of directors and supervisors.
"With new officials on both sides, now is the best time for a resumption of cross-strait consultations and negotiations on matters of mutual concern," Chen said.
He said that the two sides should increase cultural and civilian exchanges to boost mutual understanding, trust and rapprochement.
Touching on the US-led war on terror, Chen said Taiwan must work hand-in-hand with other democratic countries in support of the global anti-terror campaign.
The training workshop was organized by the National Security Bureau to instill new strategic concepts and expertise in top intelligence officers.
"As the elite of our intelligence force, you must use new strategic thinking to detect changes in the international situation and work hard to help ease cross-strait tension and create win-win scenarios for both sides," Chen said.
He also encouraged intelligence staff to cultivate a spirit of teamwork and to craft an efficient mechanism for integrated operations of all intelligence units.
"I hope that the intelligence staff will forsake their turf mentality and cooperate closely in line with the principles of policy consistency, division of labor and teamwork," Chen said.
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