During the upcoming cross-Straits forum, President Hu Jintao will meet with Kuomintang (KMT)
Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, it was confirmed yesterday by Yang Yi,
spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.
The preparations for the 3rd Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and
Cultural Forum are proceeding apace, revealed Yang at a press
conference without elaborating on the contents of the Hu-Lien
meeting.?
The first historical meeting between the two dates back to April
2005 before their second encounter a year later at the second
version of the cross-Straits forum. Their contact mirrored
improving relations between the two sides.
Yang briefed journalists on the upcoming forum, to run in
Beijing on April 28-29. More than 500 participants are expected,
with close to 200 from the mainland meeting around 300 of their
Taiwan compatriots.
Delegates from Taiwan will not only include KMT representatives,
but some from other parties like the People First Party, New Party
and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union. "They will hail from various
sectors, such as aviation, shipping, education and tourism," Yang
specified.
At the forum, participants will discuss issues such as
cross-Straits flights, education and tourism, always keeping in
mind peaceful development of relations.
The two previous forums contributed to keeping relations on the
right track and guided the mainland in rolling out measures to
facilitate economic and trade cooperation, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2007)
