Zhang Zhijun (R), head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, welcomes a delegation led by Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan (L), also chairman of a foundation on cross-Strait peaceful development, at their hotel in Beijing, China, Feb. 17, 2014.Photo: Xinhua

 
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said on Tuesday that cross-Straits consultations on political differences should be on an equal basis under the one-China principle.

Xi made the remarks when meeting visiting Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan in Beijing.

"Regarding the long-existing political differences across the Taiwan Straits, we are willing to hold consultations with the Taiwan side on an equal basis under the one-China principle and make reasonable arrangements," Xi said.

Xi called on the two sides across the Straits to consolidate the basis for adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence," and foster the common understanding of the one-China principle.

"This basis is the anchor of cross-Straits relations. So long as both sides adhere to this basis, cross-Straits relations will head for a bright future," he said.

Lien said that the cross-Straits relations have made improvements in the past year, including the reiteration of the 1992 Consensus and the emphasis of the statement that "cross-Straits relations are not international relations."

Relations between the mainland and Taiwan stalled when the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after defeat in a civil war.

Business and personnel exchanges resumed in the late 1980s, and in the early 1990s the two sides started to engage with each other through the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation.

Li Jiaquan, senior research fellow with the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that Xi's remarks have once again suggested a willingness to further push forward the cross-Straits relationships from the Chinese mainland.

"I am still optimistic about the meeting between Xi and Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou. I believe the possibilities are growing, which is also the natural result as the cross-Straits relationships advance," Li noted.

However, Li pointed out that the meeting would not take place during APEC as many had speculated.

"Usually, top leaders would not be presented and APEC is still an international platform, where Chinese mainland has been avoiding to arrange the meeting at," Li said.

Wang Jianmin, a scholar from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the content of the meeting is the most important. "A meeting without substantial content is meaningless. What Xi and Ma discuss at the meeting matters more than the occasion of the meeting," said Wang.