Taipei (AsiaNews) - The Communist Party Congress and the election of a new leader of mainland China Xi Jinping "are positive signals for Taiwan.' I am convinced that nothing can change in that country with the election of one man, because the decisions are made with committee consensus, but I hope that Xi can positively evaluate the peace that exists in the Straits and the cooperation that we have had for the past five years. If so, the process will continue", says Kuoyu Tung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, commenting on the new Chinese leadership to AsiaNews.
According to the minister, who yesterday met a group of journalists from all over the world, "it is clear that we must await the composition of the Politburo and its Standing Committee. It is unthinkable that, in communist China, one person makes the decisions. But I think that its important to note that the transition was a smooth and peaceful. The path we are following is the right one, we hope to continue in this way. "
The Minister is referring to the now four-year policy of "meaningful cooperation", the mantra of the Taiwanese executive led by the Nationalist Ma Ying-jeou who has conciliatory approach towards his looming neighbour. In the name of this cooperation free trade agreements and programs of direct flights between the Republic of China and Communist China were signed, to date two million Taiwanese visit the mainland every year, while five million Chinese visit mainland Taiwan.
This view is optimistic and most likely will remain intact for a long time. According to ex-diplomat Stephen S. F. Chen - former charge d'affaires at the United States - "reunification with the Communists is unthinkable. According to the agreements reached in the early nineties, both we and mainland China believe to be one country, but reunification does not mean that one side wins over the other, and because of this there can be no reunion of sorts while things remain as they are".
However, even the former ambassador sees the path taken as fairly positive: "I can not say that we are on the best path - he tells AsiaNews - but we are on a road that continues. And this, according to the Chinese way of doing things, is already a huge achievement. Now we want more international recognition, to be able to negotiate as equals when there really will be only one China" (VFP).
