China/Taiwan

China and Taiwan agree to resume historic talks

Article published on the 2008-05-29 Latest update 2008-05-30 08:06 TU

Wu Poh-siung and Hu Jintao
(Photo : Reuters)

China and Taiwan have agreed to resume talks that have been suspended for more than a decade. The agreement to gather in Beijing in two weeks time came a day after Chinese President Hu Jintao met the head of the island's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, Wu Poh-hsiung, in the highest-level contact since China and Taiwan split in 1949.

Their historic meeting and the agreement to resume talks are part of a rapprochement that began when the Kuomintang defeated the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan's presidential elections in March.

The talks will focus on establishing direct flights between the two sides and allowing mainland tourists to travel to Taiwan.

"We hope the talks will make progress on the two issues to meet the expectations of people from both sides of the strait," said the invitation letter.

Taiwan was quick to accept the offer, a formality after Hu and Wu made a verbal agreement on the talks during their meeting in Beijing.

China's official news agency Xinhua, said the talks would be the start of regular consultations based on the so-called "1992 consensus," a guideline for talks the mainland and Taiwan reached in 1992, in which each side could interpret the term "One China" in its own way.

Following the agreement, China and Taiwan held a historic dialogue 15 years ago in Singapore but the Chinese side suspended the process in 1995, amid disagreements between Beijing and Taipei.

The two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949 and China still claims Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification. It has in the past threatened to invade if Taiwan declares independence.

Those threats were ramped up during the reign of Taiwan's previous president, Chen Shui-bian, whose pro-independence rhetoric angered the mainland.

His successor, Ma Ying-jeou, sworn in as president last week, has taken a much more conciliatory approach with China.

Ma has called for the resumption of the dialogue and pledged to deepen economic links between the two sides and vowed not to enter an arms race with China.