Taiwan’s Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung and Chinese President Hu Jintao both stressed the importance of peaceful development across the strait in a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday marking the first meeting between top leaders of the ruling parties across the Taiwan Strait since Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Hu took the occasion to express gratitude for Taiwan’s help in the relief efforts in the quake-devastated areas in China’s Sichuan province on behalf of Chinese people.
Wu was expected to reach a consensus with Hu during the meeting on the resumption of the long-stalled dialogue between the two sides, which had been suspended since 1999 when then-President Lee Teng-hui defined cross-strait relations as a special state-to-state relationship.
However, sources said that Wu and Hu would not sign any concrete agreements, nor would they touch on the issue of a schedule for the two sides to resume talks.
Wu received the Taiwan delegation led by Wu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The two sides were expected to make their own press release with regard to the meeting after its conclusion.
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