China preparing for direct talks with Taiwan
23 May 2008
China said on Thursday that it was preparing for the first direct talks with Taiwan in over a decade, AFP reported. In Beijing's first official reaction to the inauguration of new Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, the head of the Communist Party Central Committee's Taiwan Work Office, Chen Yunlin said, "Currently, good developing momentum is emerging in cross-strait relations, bringing a rare and important opportunity." Chen added that both countries were "making efforts to restart negotiations and discussions" based on a 1992 guideline in which the mainland and Taiwan agreed to interpret the term "one China" in their own ways. Ma, who ran on a platform of increasing trade and travel between Taiwan and the mainland, called Beijing's reaction a sign of good will.