Hu sends Taiwan leader direct communique, first in 60 years

Jul 27, 2009, 10:57 GMT

   Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday sent the first direct public communication between the top leaders of mainland China and Taiwan in 60 years.

   Hu sent a telegram to Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to congratulate him on winning election as head of Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party, state media said.

   It followed a warming of ties since Ma's election as president last year.

   Hu said he hoped the two parties would 'continue to push forward cross-Strait relations and peaceful development and deepen political trust.'

   But Hu's carefully worded statement did not address Ma as president or refer to him as the leader of Taiwan.

   It was formally addressed to 'Taipei, Mr Ma Ying-jeou, China Nationalist Party Central Committee,' according to a transcript issued by the semi-official China News Service.

   Ma replied to Hu, addressing him as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and hailing recent improvements in cross-Strait ties that had 'won the approval of all nations,' the agency reported.

   Recent meetings between the two sides have been conducted as party-to-party activities between the Communist Party and the Nationalists, or Kuomintang (KMT).

   Ma was elected chairman of the Nationalist Party Sunday after an uncontested poll.

   Analysts and Taiwanese media said his election was expected to create the possibility of a meeting between Ma and Hu in their capacity as party, rather than state, leaders.

   Ma had repeatedly said he did not plan to meet Hu in the near future.

   Taiwan's opposition pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, which accused Ma of supporting eventual cross-strait unification, opposes any such meeting.

   It has also warned that having Ma as KMT chairman could result in authoritarian rule in Taiwan.

   Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949, and top government leaders from the two sides have never met since then.