The meeting between the
leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT)
party on Friday was hailed across the world as the European Union (EU) and the
United States expressed welcome while Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
described it as "historic."
Commenting on the meeting between Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC
Central Committee, and Lien Chan, chairman of KMT (the Nationalist Party of
China ), a spokesperson for the European Commission (EC), said the EC, as EU's
executive arm, welcomes thefirst meeting between the top leaders of the two
parties in 56 years.
"We are keen for that to be a solution to the tension" across the Taiwan
Strait through dialogue, Emma Udwin, the EC spokesperson, told a daily press
conference in Brussels on Friday.
"We welcome the first step. We hope this is far from a full story, we hope
this would prove to be a first step to a positive direction," she said.
In Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew called the Hu-Lien meeting a historicone as both
sides recognize the "one China" consensus.
Lee said he sees peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait over the next
three and a half years.
In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "We welcome
dialogue" between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as "we believe cross-strait
dialogue is important to promoting peace and stability in the region. "
"We'll continue working with the parties in the region and continue to
encourage them to engage in dialogue to promote peace and stability in the
region," McClellan said.
In a news dispatch from Beijing, Portugal's Lusa news agency termed the
Hu-Lien handshake, the first between the top leaders ofthe two parties since
1945, as "historic."
The handshake symbolizes an end to hostility between the two parties and
opens a new chapter in the cross-strait relations, it said.
Associations of overseas Chinese in South Africa also expressedtheir support
for the effort made by the two parties to maintain peace and promote development
through enhanced cooperation across the strait.
Lien Chan, leading a KMT delegation, kicked off a week-long visit to China's
mainland on Tuesday, the first by a top KMT leader since 1949.
James Soong, chairman of Taiwan's People First Party, is scheduled to follow
Lien's suit on May 5-12.
