Asia-Pacific News

Taiwan and China's ruling parties hold another cross-strait forum

Jun 10, 2009, 14:40 GMT

Taipei - The ruling parties of Taiwan and China will hold their fifth forum in China next month to try to expand ties across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's ruling party KMT said Wednesday. The fifth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum will be held July 11-12 in Changsha, China. The focus is on promoting cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation, the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) said in a statement. Some 200 experts and scholars from Taiwan and China would attend. Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. But in April 2005, then-KMT chairman Lien Chan visited China and met with President Hu Jintao who doubles as the secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party. Lien and Hu issued a joint statement on promoting cross-strait peace, and agreed their parties would hold regular forums to discuss how to implement their initiatives. The first was in April 2006 in Beijing. As China does not recognize the legality of the Taiwan government and refuses to make contacts with the Taiwan government, the contacts and forums between the KMT and CCP provide an important and convenient channel of communication for Taipei and Beijing.

Asia-Pacific News

Taiwan and China's ruling parties hold another cross-strait forum

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