KMT official reminds Hu of 'two territories' view
A senior official from Taiwan's Kuomintang yesterday described cross-strait relations as 'one country, two territories', in an attempt to stress the island's status as an equivalent of the mainland.
Emphasising that both Taiwan and the mainland insist on 'one China' with different interpretations of what that China stands for, Wu Poh-hisung, told Chinese Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao that Taipei has handled its relations with Beijing under the concept of 'one country, two territories'.
'Under the concept, we have been using Taiwan and Mainland People Relations Act as the legal basis to promote cross-strait relations,' Wu said in a meeting with Hu in Beijing, his fifth since 2008.
Wu, who is honorary chairman of the Kuomintang, said cross-strait relations were not 'country to country' relations, but 'special relations' as reflected by Taiwan using its Mainland Affairs Council instead of its foreign ministry to handle ties.
Wu also urged the mainland to reduce military threats towards Taiwan and to give the island more room to develop international relations, the KMT said in a press release.
Analysts said Wu's 'one country, two territories' remarks had served to reiterate the KMT's current stance.
'It was merely a reflection of [Taiwanese] President Ma Ying-jeou's remarks last year that ... Taiwan is a free territory and with Beijing as the mainland territory,' said Professor George Tsai Wei, a political analyst at Chinese Culture University in Taipei.
Yang Lixian , of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Wu's gesture should be welcomed.
'What Wu says is ... recognition of the one-China principle, and it is certainly a good gesture,' she said.
Additional reporting by Teddy Ng in Beijing
