Beijing-Taipei talks open door to developing political ties, analysts say
First official meeting between mainland and Taiwan officials in 65 years has opened the door to development of political relations, analysts say
Taiwan and the mainland have opened the door to developing political relations following their first official talks in 65 years, analysts say.
Last week's official meeting showed the mainland was bringing its approach to dealing with Taiwan in line with President Xi Jinping's stated preference that dialogue steer ties, they said.
This new flexibility in Beijing's approach was further evidenced by the revelation by the Taiwanese envoy, Wang Yu-chi, that his public mention of the island's official name had been tacitly agreed upon by Beijing earlier.
Wang, head of Taiwan's ministerial- level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), and his mainland counterpart, Zhang Zhijun of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), met in their official capacities in Nanjing on Tuesday. Following the meeting, government-to-government dialogue is set to be the norm.
"The talks saw our two sides agreeing to establish a regular communication mechanism between the MAC and TAO," Wang told a news conference after returning to Taiwan on Friday.
In future, cross-strait officials of the same level of authority could telephone each other directly to discuss matters, Wang added.