China appoints new top Taiwan negotiator

Tue May 27, 2008 1:25 PM EDT

world-news, china, taiwan, communist-party, hu-jintao

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BEIJING — China has appointed a senior official on Taiwan affairs as its chief negotiator on dealings with the island, state media reported Tuesday, an apparent indication the sides are preparing for substantive talks.

Relations between China and Taiwan have warmed considerably since Nationalist Ma Ying-jeou was elected Taiwan's president in March.

Ma has pledged not to seek formal independence and called on China to put aside persistent political disputes to forge business ties.

Chen Yunlin was chosen as chief of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, the quasi-governmental body China set up in 1991 to deal directly with Taiwan, Xinhua reported.

Chen is replacing Wang Daohan, who died in 2005 and was not replaced because relations between China and Taiwan were very strained then, with no chance of restarting talks.

Last week, China's President Hu Jintao met with Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung in Beijing. Wu's trip to boost business ties was the first by the leader of a ruling Taiwanese political party since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949.

Since that visit, the two sides have agreed to hold talks on tourism and direct charter flights.

Beijing suspended formal talks with Taiwan in 1999 amid rising tensions over what it perceived as the self-governed island's attempt to make its de facto independence permanent. China claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.