Print

Mail

wiki links

Hu Jintao putting ‘deep’ thought into cross-strait issues

Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said he was giving serious consideration to improving relations with Taiwan, Chinese state-run media reported yesterday, one day after meeting vice president-elect Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who will take office next month.

Beijing waited until after midnight on Saturday to share Hu’s account of the 20-minute meeting at the southern Chinese resort of Boao.

Hu’s comments in the Xinhua report were cautious and simply summarized the meeting without reciprocating praising remarks Siew made after the meeting. But Hu reportedly said the annual weekend conference in Boao — where businesspeople mix with world leaders — “inspired us to think deep about cross-strait economic exchanges and cooperation under the new circumstances.”

Hu endorsed two of Siew’s key proposals: opening up Taiwan to more Chinese tourists and allowing weekend charter flights, Xinhua said.

Many hoped the Hu-Siew meeting would mark a thawing in cross-strait relations after President Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) two terms.

In the Xinhua report yesterday, Hu did not mention Chen by name, but the Chinese leader said relations with Taiwan had “suffered twists and turns for reasons known to all” in recent years.

Beijing is much more comfortable with Siew and president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Neither have publicly opposed unification, but they insist the thorny issue should be set aside for now, so that future generations can settle it.

Daniel Tang, a China expert at Taiwan’s Chungyu Institute of Technology, said Hu was using his meeting with Siew to help improve China’s image as it deals with criticism over issues like its crackdown in Tibet.

“China needs to produce positive results in cross-strait relations to divert attention from rows over its human rights record before the Olympics,” Tang said.
This story has been viewed 2235 times.