Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China, met in Beijing Saturday
with Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan.
After their brief meeting, they also met with participants
attending the third cross-Taiwan Straits economic, trade, and
cultural forum at the Great Hall of the People, and Hu called
for closer personnel, economic, and cultural exchanges between the
mainland and Taiwan to curb Taiwan secessionist activities and
maintain peace across the Taiwan Straits.
Hu said the mainland's robust economic growth has offered more
opportunities, stronger impetus, and better conditions for
cross-Straits economic exchanges and cooperation.
"To promote economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation,
improve the well-being of the people across the Straits and boost
the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are the common will of
the people and the prevailing trend," Hu said.
Hu met Lien, then KMT chairman, for the first time in April
2005. The Hu-Lien meeting, hailed as monumental, was the first
meeting between top leaders of the two parties in 60 years.
Following the meeting, the two parties released a press
communique, which says that the two parties have reached a
five-point consensus for "promoting peace and development across
the Taiwan Straits."
Hu and Lien met again in April 2006, when Lien was in Beijing
for a cross-Straits forum on economic and trade cooperation. Both
of them underscored the peaceful development of relations between
the two sides.
Lien said the CPC and the KMT have jointly hosted a series of
forums and seminars on cross-Straits economic, cultural and
agricultural exchanges over the past two years.
He said the exchanges have helped improve the well being of the
people across the Straits, especially the Taiwanese.
The KMT will continue to work as a bridge to push forward the
cross-Straits relations through dialogues and consultations, said
Lien, when addressing the participants.
About 500 participants from the mainland and Taiwan are
attending the current cross-Straits forum, which opened in Beijing
on Saturday.
Participants will exchange views on issues including direct
flights across the Taiwan Straits and educational and tourism
cooperation between the two sides.
(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2007)
