Su, a ranking member of the Taiwan delegation headed by Siew to attend a three-day Boao Forum for Asia, held on the south Chinese island of Hainan, said "Weekend charter flights across the Taiwan Strait can be realized in early July as scheduled. We can say well that the spring (between cross-strait ties) has come."
During the meeting, Su said, Siew raised Taiwan's position was that both sides should "face reality, envision the future, put aside differences, and pursue a win-win status."
"The first two outlines were raised in 2005 by honorary Chairman Lien Chan of the Kuomintang (KMT) when visiting the mainland, and the last two were common concept of President-elect Ma Ying-jeou and Siew," Su said.
Worth mentioning is that during the afternoon opening session of the Boao forum, Siew was arranged to take a seat on the front row together with national leaders from other countries, for the first time ever, indicating that he is treated as a national leader, instead of merely chairman of the Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation.
Siew will meet with former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is also attending the Boao Forum, today to exchange views on relevant topics.
As Ma Ying-jeou and Siew will be sworn in as new president and vice president on May 20, Siew is expected to invite Powell to attend the upcoming inauguration ceremony.
Also yesterday, Lawmaker Lin Yu-fang of the KMT commented that the Siew-Hu meeting has set the tone for the cross-strait ties in the next four years. "Given the fact that Hu mentioned 'cross-strait economic and trade exchanges' twice, the cross-strait ties would center on economic and trade issues, and won't touch on political issues," Lin said.
Lin said the as the organizer of the Boao Forum for Asia, China should manage to demonstrate a harmonious atmosphere for cross-strait ties, so that it can more easily dominate the regional economic integration.
The KMT lawmaker continued that the Chinese leader will not discuss the "one China" issue at such an international stage, lest the "Taiwan issue" should become an international one.
The largest breakthrough in the Siew-Hu meeting lies in the fact that the paramount Chinese leader has met with Taiwan's Vice President-elect.
On another front, lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party were unsatisfied with the performance of Siew in the meeting with Hu.
Lawmaker William Lai, for instance, said Siew has defied Taiwan's national dignity by holding a "Taiwan compatriot ID card" for entry into China, criticizing Siew's topics raised at the meeting as being nothing new and failed to touch on the core issues that should be settled through bilateral negotiations.
