CHINA CALLS FOR NON-OFFICIAL POLITICAL DIALOGUE WITH TAIWAN

TAIPEI - Chinese officials and scholars have called for non-official political dialogue between China and Taiwan as China’s former Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, becomes Head of the Chinese organisation responsible for dealing with Taiwan. Chen takes over from Chen Yunlin, who was appointed President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in June 2008. At the ARATS board meeting, Chen said: "As cross-strait relations go ever deeper, the two sides eventually will need to look for solutions to our difficult political problems. ARATS supports exchanges and discussions on political issues between academic institutions and related personnel, and it also supports political dialogue between private citizens on both sides." He used the Chinese term "min jian" to indicate the unofficial nature of such dialogue.