KMT elder meets with Xi, pushes exchange of offices

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (front, center) speaks during a news conference after meeting Communist Party of China General Secretary Xi Jinping.

Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (front, center) speaks during a news conference after meeting Communist Party of China General Secretary Xi Jinping.

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) A ruling Kuomintang (KMT) elder said after meeting with China’s new leader Xi Jinping Thursday that he was confident Taiwan and China will exchange official offices so as to facilitate the handling of cross-Taiwan Strait affairs.

Taiwan and China should push for the exchange of offices by Taipei’s Straits Exchange Foundation, which is responsible for cross-strait affairs in the absence of official ties with China, and its Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, said KMT Honorary Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung in a statement after the meeting.

Wu acknowledged there are difficulties toward that goal but said he was confident that “there is nothing that cannot be achieved so long as we’re doing it for the good of the people.”

Wu arrived in Beijing Wednesday on a three-day visit. Earlier in the day, he and other members of the Taiwanese delegation met with Xi in his capacity as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for talks that lasted nearly two hours.

The meeting is the first high-level dialogue between the KMT and the CPC since Xi took the helm of his party last November.

The KMT released a press release after the meeting saying Wu had sent regards to Xi on behalf of President and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou and had reiterated Taiwan’s stance on the development of its relations with China.

Apart from holding out hope for the exchange of offices, Wu also underscored the KMT government’s adherence to the “1992 consensus” and its stance against independence as the basis of political mutual trust.

The “1992 consensus” is a tacit agreement between Taiwan and China that there is only “one China,” with both sides free to interpret its meaning.

Wu also called for deeper economic cooperation and conveyed Taiwan’s hopes for admission into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) promoted by the Association for Southeast Asian Nations soon, according to the press release.

Fourth, Wu made a case for broader international space for Taiwan and its meaningful participation in world affairs, tying it to the peaceful and stable development in cross-strait ties.

Fifth, Wu called for closer cultural exchanges including an agreement in education. He also urged the two sides to strike a currency swap deal soon to further their financial cooperation.

Lastly, he urged the two sides to boost recognition of the ethnic Chinese as their national identity.

(By Lee Shu-hwa and Scully Hsiao)