Taiwan Party Chief Meets With Hu

Taiwan’s opposition leader shook hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao in a landmark meeting in the Great Hall of the People on Friday, symbolically ending a standoff between their political parties that had existed for nearly six decades.

People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were able to watch on live television as the former enemies reached out to each other in the heart of the Chinese capital for the first time since the Nationalists, who once ruled China, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communists.

While acknowledging their differences, Hu and Nationalist Party leader Lien Chan agreed to put the past behind them and work toward a common future.

“Since the moment you stepped on mainland soil, our two parties took a historic step forward,” Hu said in his welcoming remarks. “We should show the world that Chinese from both sides of the Taiwan Strait have the ability and the wisdom to resolve our own problems

Lien, who is in China for an eight-day visit at Beijing’s invitation, acknowledged that the trip was long overdue.

“We had our conflicts, we are all familiar with that history,” Lien said. “But that history is in the past. We have no ability to change history. But the future is in our hands.”

After a two-hour talk in the massive meeting hall on Tiananmen Square, the two men issued a five-point statement calling for an end to military tensions and greater economic cooperation. The statement is based on agreement that there is only one China and that Taiwan should not be independent.

The statement said nothing specific about a possible reduction of the mainland’s 700 missiles pointed at Taiwan. Beijing says the island is part of its territory, to be taken back by force if necessary. China passed a controversial anti-secession law last month that critics say created ill will with Taiwan.

Lien and Hu vowed to work toward an accord to end hostilities, push for direct transportation links across the strait and open the mainland market to Taiwanese farm goods. They also agreed to work toward allowing Taiwan to join international bodies such as the World Health Organization, a move Beijing has opposed.

However, as opposition leader, Lien has little power to implement any of these initiatives. He said Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, who grudgingly gave his blessing to the trip after initially accusing Lien of selling out to Beijing, must do more.

“I believe the door has been opened,” Lien said after the talk with Hu.

Reaction to the meeting was mixed in Taiwan. Those favoring better ties with the mainland praised Lien, while the pro-independence camp accused him of undermining the island’s interests.

“Lien ... failed to urge China to reduce the missiles and hostility toward Taiwan, failed to boost Taiwan’s international space, failed to express Taiwanese opposition to the anti-secession law, and failed to introduce the value of Taiwan’s democracy,” said Joseph Wu, chairman of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council.

By courting Lien, Beijing appears to have succeeded in isolating Chen and pressuring him to soften his provocative independence stance.

“The biggest winners are the [Nationalists] and Beijing,” said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, an independent think tank in Taiwan. “Chen is put on the defensive.”

Some observers believe that there is room yet for Chen to capitalize on Lien’s trip.

“If he can broaden his mind, he could reap the fruit because he is the one with the real power,” said Arthur Ding, an international affairs expert at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. “I think in his mind he really wants to make a trip to Beijing.”

Until then, Chen must watch the man he defeated in two presidential elections hold the political limelight.

“Spring water can melt a thousand-year-old snow,” Lien said at a speech at Beijing University, the alma mater of his 96-year-old mother and where President Clinton and other world leaders have lectured during visits to China. “What we need to realize is reconciliation and peace.”

Chinese media gave the Nationalist leader full coverage and stressed his mainland roots. Lien, 69, was born in Xian, the city where the battling Nationalists and Communists agreed to a cease-fire so they could fight the Japanese in World War II.

He spent his childhood in war-torn China and left at age 10 for Taiwan, where his father was sent by the then-ruling Nationalists to oversee the return of the island from Japanese occupation.

Lien is expected to visit Xian this weekend to pay his respects to the grave of his grandmother and stop by his former elementary school. He will also stop in Shanghai, where many Taiwanese businesses are located.

Lien on Wednesday visited Nanjing, the Nationalists’ former seat of power where Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, is buried.

Although many Chinese were impressed with the visit, they also were skeptical that any real change would come soon.

“It’s all political theater,” said Zheng Yefu, a sociologist at Beijing University. “But the fact that he was here means we can have more dialogue. It’s harder to have a war. That’s a good thing.”

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Special correspondent Tsai Ting-I in Taipei contributed to this report.