BEIJING -- Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met Taiwan's chief negotiator Chiang Pin-kun here Thursday afternoon.
Chiang, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon to attend talks with the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
ARATS chairman Chen Yunlin and SEF chairman Chiang Pin-kun held their talks earlier Thursday. It was the first round of talks between the ARATS and SEF in nine years.
Wang said the resumption of talks between the two organizations based on the "1992 Consensus" signaled a new step toward peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Through equal consultations, the two organizations reached consensus on issues including opening chartered flights on weekends across the Taiwan Strait and allowing mainland tourists traveling to Taiwan, which would benefit people on both sides of the Strait, Wang said.
"The good momentum of cross-Strait relations development is hard-won and we should cherish and nurture it," he said.
Wang said General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao had recently proposed to "build mutual trust, lay aside disputes, seek consensus and shelve differences, and jointly create a win-win situation" for realizing the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.
Building mutual trust was the top priority, while that should be based on opposing "Taiwan Independence" and adhering to the "1992 Consensus", he said.
Wang said the talks between the two organizations should continue. Further strengthening cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation conformed to the wishes of the people, the historical trend and common interests, he said.
The opportunity of revitalizing the Chinese nation was also hard-won, he said. The compatriots across the Strait should grasp such an opportunity, fulfil their historic responsibilities, and work together in the historical trend, he said.
Chiang said he agreed with Wang's remarks.
Consultation across the Strait resumed after nine years of interruption, and we did cherish it very much, he said.
He added that the significance also lay in the fact that it was the first consultation between the two organizations in the 21st century.
He said the settling of the two issues of cross-Strait weekend charterd flights and mainland tourists traveling to Taiwan would not only facilitate the communications between the people across the Strait, but help spur Taiwan's economic development.
