Solar Energy News  
China ready for political, military talks with Taiwan: Wen

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) March 5, 2009
China is ready for talks on political and military issues with Taiwan, Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday, seeking to further a rapprochement between the rivals.

"In the coming year, we will continue to adhere to the principle of developing cross-strait relations and promoting peaceful reunification of the motherland," Wen said at the start of the annual full session of parliament.

"We are... ready to hold talks on cross-strait political and military issues and create conditions for ending the state of hostility and concluding a peace agreement."

China usually refers to relations with Taiwan as "cross-strait", referring to the narrow Taiwan Strait separating the island and the mainland.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949 but Beijing considers the island part of its territory, insisting that reunification is only a question of time.

Their relationship has long been considered one of Asia's potential war flashpoints and both sides have engaged in an expensive military build-up.

China has targeted Taiwan with more than 1,000 short-range ballistic and cruise missiles, according to defence authorities on the island.

Taiwan's presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi welcomed Wen's comments, but said Taipei was not immediately ready to discuss political and military issues with Beijing.

"In the current stage we want to focus on economic and trade issues," Wang said.

"We can move on to political and military issues after we reach certain consensus on the economy and trade first."

From 2000 to 2008, cross-strait relations were particularly bad, as Beijing watched the island's independence-minded president Chen Shui-bian push for greater autonomy.

However, relations have improved markedly since the more China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou became president of Taiwan in May last year, highlighted by the introduction of direct regular flights between the two sides.

Wen's call for military talks extended an invitation originally made by President Hu Jintao at the end of last year.

Wen also referred to Taiwan's long ambition to participate in international organisations such as the United Nations, although he insisted the baseline criteria remained.

"We are ready to make fair and reasonable arrangements through consultation on the issue of Taiwan's participation in the activities of international organisations," Wen said.

But he said such participation would have to come under the "one-China principle", which maintains that Beijing is the sole legitimate government of all of China, including Taiwan.

Wen also said China would work to improve already lucrative economic ties between the two sides, with the aim of jointly overcoming the global economic crisis.

"We will accelerate normalisation of cross-strait economic relations and facilitate the signing of a comprehensive agreement on economic cooperation," Wen said.

Trade between China and Taiwan had risen steadily in recent years but plunged by more than 55 percent in January to 5.03 billion dollars due to the economic crisis, according to figures published in the state-run Chinese media.

China's imports from Taiwan in January were valued at 3.9 billion dollars, down 58 percent from a year ago, the reports said.

Related Links
Taiwan News at SinoDaily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Disputes remain as Taiwan, China strike museum accord
Taipei (AFP) March 2, 2009
Taiwan and China Monday forged an agreement calling for close cooperation between the two sides' most famous museums in a further sign of warming ties between the cross-Strait rivals.







  • Fire at Japan nuke plant, no radiation leak: operator
  • IAEA mulls limiting chief's mandate
  • Recycled nuclear fuel shipment leaves France for Japan
  • Recycled Japanese nuclear fuel arrives at French port

  • 'Albatross' gone, India offers hand to US
  • Climate Change Heating Up Future Wars Part Three
  • Washington new center of global warming battle
  • EU confident Obama will follow its lead on climate change

  • Raytheon Technology Protects Crops From Frost
  • Farmers Saving The Economy Again, But For How Long
  • Chinese dairy maker buys scandal-hit milk firm: industry association
  • Chinese courts to accept milk-scandal cases: report

  • New footage shows rare rhinos in Indonesia: WWF
  • Oldest Fossil Brain Found In Kansas And Imaged In France
  • Invasives Threaten Salmon In Pacific Northwest
  • Climate change bad news for most birds: study

  • NKorea under growing pressure to scrap rocket launch
  • Scientists develop new plasma thruster
  • MIT Rocket Aims For Cheaper Nudges In Space
  • India's Cryogenic Engine Set For Integration With Rocket

  • Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2
  • Outside View: Nuclear future in space
  • Nuclear Power In Space

  • Scientists Expose Buried Fault That Caused Deadly 2003 Quake
  • GOES-O Satellite Arrives At KSC For Final Pre-Launch Testing
  • Earth-Observing Landsat 5 Turns 25
  • Three ESA Earth Science Missions Move To Next Phase

  • Microsoft goes intercontinental via cloud and Surface
  • Hit videogames have stories to tell
  • Outside View: Radar shield at risk
  • Russian General Says US May Have Planned Satellite Collision

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement