Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A Chinese - Taiwan Rapprochement?



China, Taiwan To Hold First High-Level Meeting Since 1949 -- The Diplomat

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi will travel to China to meet with his counterpart, Zhang Zhijun.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi announced that he will meet with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Zhang Zhijun in the mainland Chinese city of Nanjing on February 11. While in Nanjing, Wang will also visit the tomb of Sun Yat-sen, the father of the KMT or Nationalist Party and a celebrated figure in both China and Taiwan. Wang will travel to Shanghai for meetings on February 13 before returning to Taiwan on February 14.

The meeting will be the highest-level dialogue between officials from China and Taiwan since 1949. However, Wang and Zhang have met before — they both sat in on a meeting between Taiwan’s former Vice President Vincent Siew and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bali. This format was far more typical for China-Taiwan meetings: a current government official from one side, and a retired, unofficial representative from the other. During that meeting, Xi Jinping expressed his intention to “push forward the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.”

Read more ....

More News On The Chinese - Taiwanese Agreement To Hold High Level Talks Next Month

Taiwan, China to hold historic talks, but avoid sensitive issues -- Reuters
China woos Taiwan with offshore 'common homeland' -- AFP
China, Taiwan Schedule Formal Talks -- Wall Street Journal
China, Taiwan Plan High-Level Talks -- Voice of America
Trade Trumps Missiles as China-Taiwan Talks Show Warmed Ties -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Taiwan, China governments to hold 1st direct talks next month -- Global Post/Kyodo News

My Comment: When I lived in China in 1988 I stayed at Quanzhou city (Fujian Province) which is across from Taiwan. Even then .... 26 years ago .... I was witness to unofficial Chinese - Taiwanese contacts (mainly through businessmen) being made. The announcement that China and Taiwan will hold their first high-level meeting since 1949 is a positive development .... I know that they will stay away from the sensitive issues in public .... but in private I expect these discussions to be frank and very open and that (in my opinion) is a very good thing.

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