NANJING, China (AP) – China and Taiwan hailed a new chapter in their relations today and said their ties would advance after they held their highest-level government talks since they split amid civil war in 1949.
The two-hour discussions in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing marked a leap forward in official dialogue, sidestepping Beijing’s refusal to recognise the self-governing island’s sovereignty. No formal agreements were signed, with both sides saying just the fact that they could meet as equals marked a major step forward.
“The holding of this meeting marks a new chapter in our relations,” Taiwanese envoy Wang Yu-chi told a news conference following the talks.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for Chinese delegation head Zhang Zhijun, said the establishment of a regular channel of communication between the sides was the most significant outcome of the discussions.
“We bear a heavy responsibility. We can’t let relations run into further obstacles, much less allow them to backslide,” Ma said
The choice of Nanjing as the venue resonates because it was the capital of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government during the war against Mao Zedong’s Communists before the Nationalists were forced 65 years ago to flee the mainland for Taiwan. It also is the location of the tomb of the founder of republican China, Sun Yat-sen, who is revered in both Beijing and Taipei.
It’s in China’s interests to build trade relations with Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory and wants to eventually reunify. Previous threats to attack the island if it declares formal independence or delays unification indefinitely have only antagonized Taiwanese people. In 1995-96, China fired missiles, conducted military exercises off the Taiwanese coast, and tried to influence its internal politics, further alienating Taiwanese people.
