China ready to talk to Taiwan, end hostility
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday that Beijing is ready to hold talks with Taiwan on political and military issues in the pursuit of ending hostility between the longtime rivals.
In a report to the annual legislative session's opening ceremony, Wen cheered a significant improvement in ties and a major reduction in tensions over the past year between Beijing and the self-governing island it claims as Chinese territory.
"Positive changes occurred in the situation in Taiwan, and major breakthroughs were made in cross-strait relations," Wen said.
Beijing was ready to hold talks to "create conditions for ending the state of hostility and concluding a peace agreement" between the sides, he said.
Wen's remarks to the National People's Congress were a near word-for-word reiteration of offers made by president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao in a Dec. 31 address.
Wen gave no additional details on the content of a peace agreement or what the talks on political and military issues would include. However, the tone of his remarks were far more conciliatory than the typically hawkish references to Taiwan contained in previous addresses to the congress.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council had no immediate comment on Wen's remarks.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing says it is intent on eventual unification, by persuasion if possible but by force if considered necessary.
Relations have improved dramatically since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May with a mandate to reduce tensions and strengthen economic ties between the sides.
Taiwan's 23 million people overwhelmingly favour maintaining their de facto independence and its hard-won democratic freedoms, and Ma has insisted that discussions on Taiwan's final status won't happen during his presidency.
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