Forum on Cross-Straits Ties Opens in ZhuhaiA two-day forum on relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits opened November 14 in Zhuhai, with the theme of "promoting cross-Straits dialogues and negotiations based on the one-China principle."Altogether 54 scholars from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas are present at the forum in Zhuhai, a coastal city in Guangdong Province, south China. Tang Shubei, director of the Research Center of Cross-Straits Relations, made an opening speech and reiterated President Jiang Zemin's repeated calls since March this year, urging the Taiwan authorities to recognize the one-China principle, a consensus reached by the two sides in 1992. Once the Taiwan authorities formally and clearly recognize the one-China principle, cross-Straits dialogues and negotiations could be resumed for the discussion on any issue, including the political status of the Taiwan authorities and the international space for its economic, cultural and social activities compatible with its status, Tang said. Currently, new changes have taken place in the situation of Taiwan and cross-Straits relations have reached a crucial stage, he noted. Tang also reiterated the stance of the mainland that there is only one China in the world and both the mainland and Taiwan belong to China whose sovereignty and territorial integrity are inalienable. He criticized the new leader of the Taiwan authorities for his defiance of the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus. This indicates that the new leader of Taiwan has no sincerity for improving and developing cross-Straits ties. He attributed the increasing social turbulence and economic difficulties in Taiwan to the failure of the Taiwan leader to show his will to improve cross-Straits relations. The only way out for Taiwan is to reunite with the mainland of the motherland, he stressed. |
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