Beijing, July 13 (CNA) Mainland Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen said on Thursday there is no need to dwell on whether "one China" refers to the Republic of China or the People's Republic of China, as long as the "one China" principle is observed.
Qian made the remarks while meeting a group of media executives from Taiwan. Beijing in the past has insisted that "one China" refers to the PRC and that Taiwan is a part of it.
Answering questions from the reporters, Qian said that "one China" should not be interpreted from the viewpoint of "it must be either me or you."
He added that the ROC or the PRC "means almost the same thing ... that is `one China.'"
He further said that the 1972 Shanghai Communique signed between mainland China and the United States mentions that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is only one China, but it falls short of detailing the actual definition of "one China."
"This is a very good foundation (for improved cross-strait ties)," said Qian, who is also the mainland's top Taiwan policy maker.
Qian indirectly confirmed that Tang Shubei, vice president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) will retire from the quasi-official organization set up to deal with Taiwan in the absence of official ties.
The Taiwan media had recently reported that Tang, who is also deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under Beijing's State Council, will soon step down and that his vacancy in the State Council will be filled by Zhou Mingwei, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Shanghai City.
Qian denied news reports that ARATS will be downsized.
He expressed hope that the top negotiators of the two sides -- Koo Chen-fu, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and ARATS Chairman Wang Daohan -- can meet again to pave the way for improved relations.
They last met in April 1993 in Singapore for historic cross-strait talks and Koo traveled to the mainland to meet Wang again in Shanghai in late 1998.
But a scheduled visit to Taiwan by Wang in early 1999 was suspended by Beijing after then-ROC President Lee Teng-hui described relations between Taiwan and the mainland as "a special state-to-state relationship."
"As the two seniors (Koo and Wang) are not in the best of health and have been in and out of hospital several times, we should hurry up to create a `favorable climate' and opportunities for them to meet again," he said.
On Beijing's attitude towards the "track two" communication channel between the two sides, Qian said it does not matter weather or not there is "track two" or "track three," as some are useful while others are not.
"The most fundamental one," Qian said, "should be the `track one' (between SEF and ARATS)."
With regard to visits to the mainland by Taiwan political parties, Qian said that Beijing would welcome visits to the mainland by officials of the Kuomintang and any other parties which do not support the splitting of Taiwan from China.
As to a visit by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Qian said it must voice its support for the "one China" principle before it can send a delegation.
Qian would not respond directly on whether Beijing would welcome a mainland trip by Lee Yuan-tseh, president of Taiwan's Academia Sinica. "What would be the purpose of his visit here? I doubt whether or not he would be fully authorized to come here," he said.
Lee was named by President Chen to head a supra-party panel to seek consensus on national affairs.
Qian also threatened other countries of trouble if they invite former President Lee to visit. (By S.C. Peng and Bear Lee)
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