Half-a-century later, ‘end’ to China civil war

Taiwan Opposition leader Lien Chan and Chinese President Hu Jintao closed the book on decades of hostility on Friday with a simple handshake...

Taiwan Opposition leader Lien Chan and Chinese President Hu Jintao closed the book on decades of hostility on Friday with a simple handshake in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

The civil war enemies agreed in a two-hour meeting that they described as frank and friendly to work to end enmity between the Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist Party, and the Chinese Communist Party and avoid military conflict in the Taiwan Strait, one of Asia’s most dangerous flashpoints.

‘‘The two will work together to facilitate the resumption of negotiations as soon as possible … and facilitate ending of a hostile state to achieve a basis for peace,’’ Lien’s spokesman said.

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But that will depend also on Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose independence stance has heightened tension with a mainland China.

Hu welcomed Lien’s delegation with handshakes, smiles and a group photo at the Great Hall on the KMT’s first appearance in China since it was defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist armies and fled across the Strait to Taiwan in 1949. —Reuters

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