|
China's Jiang says happy to see Taiwan minister
2001-05-16
BEIJING - Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Tuesday met the most senior official from Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's government to visit China and told him that he was happy to see him. Jiang and Chen Po-chih, chairman of Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development, talked briefly on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on human resources, Reuters reported. In a formal greeting ceremony, Chen walked up to Jiang and shook hands as both smiled broadly. Chen told Reuters afterwards that he had thanked the Chinese leader for organising the APEC meeting and expressed hopes for friendship between Taiwan and China, which views the island as a renegade province. "We showed our friendly voice to mainland China," Chen said. "President Jiang said he was very happy to see me." Chen Po-chih is the first member of a Taiwan cabinet to visit China since 1995. He is also the highest ranking official to visit from the administration of Chen Shui-bian, who swept to power after presidential elections in March last year. Beijing is deeply suspicious of Chen Shui-bian over his past public support for Taiwan independence. Beijing has refused to deal with his government and his Democratic Progressive Party, instead courting members of the opposition. China considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory and has threatened to invade the island if Taipei moves towards independence or drags its feet on reunification talks. Chen described the brief meeting with Jiang as friendly and said the two discussed cooperation within the framework of APEC. "We hope we will have more opportunities to actively make contributions to APEC," Chen said. China is hosting a series of APEC events for the first time this year, including the leaders meeting in October. The short meeting on the sidelines of an economic meeting contrasts with the red-carpet treatment China gave Vincent Siew, a former Taiwan premier and vice-chairman of the opposition Nationalist Party, last week. Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen met Siew on Friday for what Siew called "comprehensive" talks. At the opening ceremony of the APEC meeting held on Tuesday in the Great Hall of the People, where China's parliament meets, Jiang called for more cooperation among all members for development of human resources. "We stand ready to have closer exchanges and cooperation with other APEC members and work hard to contribute our share to human capacity building in the Asia-Pacific region," he said. APEC groups 21 economies -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Taiwan, China see progress from historic talks (2008-04-12)Hong Kong crisis fuels anti-China feeling in Taiwan (2003-07-12)China's Jiang says happy to see Taiwan minister (2001-05-16)Taiwan economic minister will meet China's Jiang (2001-05-15)Taiwan's Siew sees more economic ties with China (2001-05-14)
| 
