'Wang-Koo meeting' anniversary marked in Taipei

TAIPEI - A symposium was held Sunday in Taipei to mark the 20th anniversary of the historic "Wang-Koo meeting," which laid the foundation for peaceful development of relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

In April 1993, Wang Daohan, head of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), and Koo Chen-fu, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), met in Singapore, paving the way for the improvement of the cross-Strait ties.

Founded in 1990 and 1991, respectively, the SEF and the ARATS are the non-governmental organizations authorized by Taiwan and the mainland to engage in cross-Strait talks.

At Sunday's symposium, which was organized by the Taipei Forum Foundation, Sun Yafu, vice director of the mainland's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the historic meeting replaced confrontation with dialogue.

The meeting established a common principle of gradually settling problems through negotiation, Sun said.

"To conduct negotiation, the two sides must adhere to the '1992 Consensus.' Opposing 'Taiwan independence' and adhering to the '1992 Consensus' represent a common political foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations," said Sun.

Cross-Strait relations will always develop in a sound manner, no matter what difficulties and hardships come along, Sun said.

He said the mainland's policies and measures regarding Taiwan have proven to be effective, adding that the mainland will strive to steadily improve cross-Strait ties in an all-around way.

Sun said the mainland hopes the two sides will create conditions for political negotiations while dealing with their differences.

Since official political negotiations between the two sides have not yet taken place, he said discussions between civilians from both sides should be fostered in order to eliminate misunderstanding.