Mainland underlines new cross-strait communication mechanism

A Chinese mainland spokeswoman said on Monday that the mainland hopes the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can make good use of the new communication mechanism which was nailed down during a meeting between cross-Strait affairs chiefs last week. "We hope the two sides can earnestly and actively implement results achieved during the meeting and give full play to the new communication mechanism between their cross-Strait affairs departments," said Fan Liqing of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO), at a press conference. Last Tuesday, the mainland and Taiwan agreed to regular communication between their cross-Strait affairs departments during a meeting between Zhang Zhijun, SCTAO director, and Wang Yu-chi, Taiwan's mainland affairs leader. Their meeting was the first between sitting cross-Strait affairs chiefs from the two sides since 1949. They agreed to promote cross-Strait relations on the basis of the "1992 Consensus" and expected the communication mechanism to improve exchanges, understanding and mutual trust, according to Fan. The spokeswoman said that the new arrangement will not replace talks between the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan counterpart the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which focus on detailed affairs, nor will it change the way other departments interact with each other. Zhang has accepted Wang's invitation to visit Taiwan but the exact date has not been fixed, Fan added. Hailing last week's events as "an important step" for promoting comprehensive development of cross-Strait relations, she said the meeting had achieved important results. The two sides agreed to push forward follow-up agreements to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, allow the ARATS and SEF to exchange offices "as early as possible" and promote cultural, education and scientific exchange. Fan called on both sides to "make efforts to expand cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, enhance benefits for people from both sides and open up new dimensions in peaceful development of cross-Strait ties."