Xi meets Taiwan politician ahead of APEC gathering

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), reiterated Sunday that the Chinese mainland is ready to conduct equal consultations with Taiwan on cross-Strait political issues under the one China framework and make reasonable arrangements.

Xi made the remarks when he met with Vincent Siew, honorary chairman of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, ahead of the 21st informal economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, slated for Monday and Tuesday.

He pointed out that enhancing cross-Strait political mutual trust and consolidating common political foundation are vital to ensure the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Noting that in a long run, the cross-Strait political disputes which have long existed could be gradually and eventually resolved, Xi said, "we cannot hand those problems down from generation to generation."

As regards those issues in the cross-Strait relations, heads of departments in charge of cross-Strait ties could meet and exchange views, he added.

Xi said that the two sides across the Taiwan Strait should stick to the correct path of peaceful development of the cross-Strait relations.

He said the concept that "both sides of the Strait are of one family" should be advocated, adding that the two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation and jointly work for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi stressed that the historic opportunity should be seized to maintain the sound momentum of peaceful development of cross-Strait ties, adding that people on both sides expect the cross-Strait relations to make greater progress.

Both sides should comply with people's aspirations, seize opportunities and achieve new results in the development of cross-Strait relations, he said.

On cross-Strait economic cooperation, Xi stressed that the economies of the two sides both belong to the economy of the Chinese nation. Under the new economic development situation of the Asia-Pacific region, the two sides could better deal with challenges only through cementing cooperation.

He called for more efforts to institutionalize cross-Strait economic cooperation and urged greater importance to be attached to industrial cooperation.

For his part, Siew noted that taking "1992 consensus" as the basis for the cross-Strait institutionalized consultation is not only vital for scoring many achievements in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations over the past five years, but the core for the sustainable exchanges and interactions across the Strait.

Facing up to the new challenges in the global economy, the two sides should expand and deepen the economic and trade institutionalized cooperation and promote sustainable development of the cross-Strait relations, Siew said.