A senior Chinese official vowed support for Taiwan firms entering the mainland market during a meeting with a business delegation from the territory, the first to visit Beijing since Taiwan's presidential election last month, media reports said Friday.
Song Tao, who heads the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, told Lee Tsu-chin, chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, on Thursday that Beijing will soon unveil support measures for Taiwan firms engaged in new infrastructure projects in the mainland, according to the reports.
Song said the island's ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party led by President-elect Lai Ching-te "cannot represent Taiwan's public opinion," indicating Beijing's continued stance of rejecting talks with the party.
The association known as TEEMA has about 3,000 member companies, including manufacturers of semiconductors, household appliances and personal computers. The group's visit to China is believed to be aimed at examining the mainland's business environment following the leadership poll in Taiwan.
Song said the overall long-term positive trend of the Chinese economy will remain unchanged and "provide a broader stage for Taiwanese businesses to take root in the mainland for development," the Taiwan Affairs Office said.
He expressed hope that the Taiwan business group will help enhance cross-strait industrial supply chain integration. Lee said the mainland provides "huge opportunities for industrial development," showing his eagerness for bilateral economic cooperation, according to the office.
Song stressed that China can communicate and negotiate with "any political party or group in Taiwan" as long as the one-China principle is upheld. The DPP does not support that principle.
He pointed out that mainstream public opinion in Taiwan seeks peace rather than war, and cooperation rather than confrontation. Continued DPP rule on the island "cannot stop the historical trend of the reunification of the motherland," according to the office.
Lai, the incumbent vice president of Taiwan, won the Jan. 13 presidential election to secure a third consecutive four-year term under DPP rule, an unprecedented run of success in the period since the island introduced the direct leadership poll in 1996.
Communist-led China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as the result of a civil war. Beijing views the island as part of its territory and aims to bring it into its fold, by force if necessary.
