China says it is willing to provide economic assistance to Taiwan ifthe island needs it to get through the global financial downturn.Representatives from the Chinese Communist Party and the TaiwaneseNationalist Party are in Shanghai for a two-day forum aimed at furtherimproving cross-straight economic ties.
China's official Xinhua news agency quotedJia Qinglin, a senior Communist party leader, as saying Saturday that ifTaiwan asks for help, Beijing will do its utmost to offer assistance.
Xinhuasaid Jia made the comment at the opening of a two-day meeting betweenthe two sides in Shanghai. Jia did not specify what kind of assistanceor how much would be offered.
The statement was the latest indication of warming relations between the two rivals.
Thechairman of KMT, Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party, Wu Poh-hsiungattended along with a delegation of 400 businessmen, experts andofficials from both sides according to China's official Xinhua newsagency.
Wu says the two sides should treasure the currentrelationship of great peace, great development and great communicationsaid Taiwan's Wu. He said they should patch up the opportunities lostin the past and at the same time create more benefits for people andenterprises on both sides of Strait.
Tensions between China andTaiwan have eased significantly since the inauguration of TaiwanesePresident Ma Ying-jeou in May. In contrast to his pro-independencepredecessor, Ma wants to normalize economic relations with China byskirting thorny political issues and concentrating on economic pacts.
OnMonday, China and Taiwan launched the first direct air, sea and postallinks since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949. The links arethe result of an agreement reached in Taipei in November amidstwidespread street protests. Prior to the agreement, cargo, passengerflights and postage have had to pass through a third point such as HongKong or Macau.
Many Taiwanese fear that these cross-straitagreements are coming too quickly, and potentially risk Taiwan'ssecurity and cultural identity. China officially viewsdemocratically-ruled Taiwan as a runaway province and has threatened totake the island by force should its leaders move to formalize de factoindependence. At the meeting Saturday, Jia Qinglin tried to reassurethe Taiwanese people.
"Some of our Taiwan compatriots still worryabout the relationship between both sides of the Strait," Jai said. " Wewould like to convey that we understand their feelings and are willingto treat each other honestly."
The KMT, officially supportseventual unification with China, a stance that pleases Beijing'sleaders. For now, however, even the KMT has ruled out politicalunification, citing the huge gulf between China's one-party system andTaiwan's maturing democracy.