High hopes have been placed on the just concluded meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore, a country that shares good relations with both sides of the Straits. [Special coverage]
As amilestone in 66 years of cross Straits relations, the Xi-Ma meeting saw the "leaders across Taiwan Straits" sit down for the first time to have a candid face-to-face conversation. This is the result of the peaceful development of cross-Straits ties in recent years.
The two sides were embroiled in a row from 1949 to 1979, the year when the ice broke after the mainland's National People's Congress Standing Committee issued a statement on the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question,which, in turn, gave rise to a wave of exchanges at the grassroots level. Following that, the two sides reached the historic "1992 Consensus" that there is only one China,which laid the political foundation for further interactions and cooperation.
Despite all the tensions created by "pro-independence" elements on the island during the Democratic Progressive Party's rule, cross-Straits ties have seen a number of breakthroughs since 2008, the year Kuomintang returned as the ruling party of Taiwan. For example, the three cross-Straits links of trade, transport and postal services were officially reestablished in 2008 after several rounds of negotiations.
Following the normalization of economic relations and institutionalization of civil exchanges, cross-Straits affairs chiefs of the two sides set a precedent by holding a direct highlevel dialogue in 2013,which was a giant step toward deepeningmutual political trust. Aftermany such trials and tribulations, Xi and Ma finally held a face-to-facemeeting, which has been hailed by people on both sides of the Straits.
The landmark Xi-Ma meeting points to an undeniable fact: that peace, cooperation and reconciliation are within easy reach of both sides as long as they adhere to the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China.
That Xi and Ma sat together on Saturday to discuss cross-Straits issues is a boost to the rapprochement between the two sides and a new high in mutual trust.
Over the past seven years of peaceful development, people's welfare has improved on both sides of the Straits, adding weight to the fact that there is no unsolvable problem between the mainland and Taiwan so long as they are part of one China. Therefore, both sides should put the Xi-Ma meeting to the highest and best use, in order to resolve the problems left behind by history.
Both sides should make more efforts to forge a community with shared destiny given the cooperative spirit the Xi-Ma meeting has created. That is to say, the mainland and Taiwan, on the basis of the one-China principle, should increase economic exchanges and deepen political mutual trust so as to serve the interests of people on both sides.
