Beijing ready to negotiate ECFA before year's end

Wu told the press after an hour-long meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing he is sure the ECFA will be concluded much earlier than President Ma Ying-jeou hopes.

President Ma said on Monday he hopes the ECFA will be signed by 2010 at the latest.

Hu is president of the People's Republic of China and doubles as secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

"He said at our meeting," Wu pointed out, "if the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are prepared, the ECFA could be negotiated in the last half of this year."

There is no timetable, Wu said. The CCP secretary-general did not mention when the accord, without which Taiwan would be economically marginalized in Asia, could be concluded and signed. However, the negotiations are to be concluded without delay.

Beijing's official Xinhua News Agency quoted Hu as telling Wu "both sides should push forward the preparation work for signing the agreement."

Other issues discussed at the Hu-Wu meeting included the continued efforts to improve relations across the Strait on the basis of the consensus of 1992.

Under the tacit accord, both Taipei and Beijing are agreed there is but one China, whose connotation can be orally and individually expressed. The agreement ushered in a brief detente between Taiwan and China in the 1990s.

China has adopted many measures to pull through the financial crisis together with Taiwan, Hu was quoted as saying. He promised to continue the effort, as long as it is necessary.

On the other hand, emphasis should be placed on cultural exchanges between the two sides, Hu and Wu agreed. They decided cultural exchanges would top the agenda of the coming cross-strait KMT-CCP forum.

"We are agreed that the next meeting will take place in July," Wu said. No decision has been made on the venue, though the chances are that it will be held again in China.

Lien Chan, honorary KMT chairman, will attend the July meeting, Wu said. "So will I," he added.

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