Forum on Cross-Straits Ties Opens

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, July 18, 2003

Forum on Cross-Straits Ties Opens

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A two-day forum on cross-Straits relations opened in Lijiang City, in southwest China's Yunnan Province Thursday, with some 150 experts and scholars from China's mainland, Taiwan Province, and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The meeting is sponsored by the mainland's Research Center on Cross-Straits Relations. Tang Shubei, chairman of the research center, addressed the inaugural session, calling for an early resumption of normal visits and exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.

Tang expressed his hope that cross-Straits talks and negotiations will be re-opened in accordance with the one-China principle.

In his speech, the official criticized the Taiwan residents whohad tried to block cross-Straits trade and economic exchanges by exaggerating the SARS situation on the mainland.

SARS has generated a surplus of goods for Taiwan investors on the mainland, especially in the hi-tech industry, as there is no direct transport link between the two sides, Tang said. It once again demonstrates the necessity of the "Three Direct Links" -- the direct links of trade, mail and transport, across the Straits,he noted.

According to the official, in the first five months of this year, cross-Straits trade volume reached 21.3 billion US dollars, an increase of 31.8 percent over the same period last year.

During the five months, the mainland approved 1,773 Taiwan-funded projects, with contractual Taiwanese capital of 2.72 billion US dollars. In the period, the actual amount of Taiwanese capital used by the mainland was 1.57 billion US dollars.

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