President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) envoy to the 2008 APEC forum leaders summit described his encounter with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on Friday as an “interesting” meeting between two “old friends.”
“It is very significant for old friends to meet each other outside of Asia,” former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) said at an international press conference after his 40-minute meeting with Hu at the Chinese president’s hotel. The meeting was open to the media for around five minutes.
Lien addressed Hu as “General Secretary Hu” — Hu met Lien in his capacity as general secretary of the Communist Party of China — while Hu addressed Lien as “chairman,” referring to his post as honorary chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Hu, accompanied by Wang Yi (王毅), director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that he was happy to meet Lien again and lauded his efforts in promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations over the years.
Asked whether or not he carried any messages from Ma, Lien said only that he and Hu discussed “things about which we are concerned and how to direct our efforts toward peaceful development, cooperation and a win-win situation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
“We hope to put economics ahead of politics,” Lien said.
Taiwan still needs to consult with China on the signing of investment guarantee agreements for Taiwanese businessmen operating in China and on the avoidance of double taxation, he said.
Foreign reporters covering the meeting said that Latin American nations did not dare not sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with Taiwan because of the “one China” principle and asked Lien if he discussed the matter with Hu.
Lien said the issue was complex and was not included in the meeting, adding that while the promotion of FTAs is important, the multilateral free trade system under the APEC framework is also crucial.
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