China pandas, Taiwan, Lien ends trip

China pandas, Taiwan, Lien ends trip

John Ruwitch, Reuters/Beijing

China offered Taiwan a pair of pandas and other goodwill gestures
on Tuesday at the end of a historic visit by a Taiwan opposition
leader, but rejected an invitation to Chinese leader Hu Jintao to
go to the island.

Hinting at the benefits Taipei might expect from reconciling
with China, Beijing also lifted a ban on Chinese tourists
visiting the island and offered zero import tariffs on a range of
locally grown fruits.

The gestures came as Taiwan opposition leader Lien Chan ended
a historic trip to the mainland, the first Nationalist or
Kuomintang (KMT) chief to set foot there since 1949, when the
Communists toppled the KMT and swept it into exile on Taiwan.

Under pressure to improve ties with Beijing and seize back the
initiative from the opposition, independence-minded President
Chen Shui-bian invited Hu on Tuesday to visit the island.

"We hope Chairman Hu Jintao can come to Taiwan. Mainland China
clearly lacks understanding about Taiwan and that is why there
has been misjudgment and misunderstanding," Chen told reporters
during a visit to the South Pacific nation of Kiribati.

China's policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) riposted
that talks with Chen were impossible until he recognized that
Taiwan is part of China and his Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) dropped its independence-seeking constitution.

"So long as they can carry out the above points, the two sides
should be able to return to dialogue and consultations," TAO Vice
Chairman Wang Zaixi told a news conference, adding that Beijing
was willing to discuss missiles deployed against Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to
bring the democratic island back to the fold, by force if
necessary. Beijing has sought to isolate Chen by engaging the
more conciliatory opposition parties, analysts said.

"In Beijing, we had the opportunity to meet mainland leaders
to exchange views on cross-Strait and current issues," Lien told
reporters on his return to Taipei.

After a chaotic pro-independence protest had marred his
departure to China last week, security was greatly tightened to
prevent a repeat on Tuesday. Police banned anyone carrying
protest banners or weapons from entering the airport.

China's offer of the two pandas, which it said was "a token of
friendship", is highly symbolic. Beijing has a history of lending
out the endangered animals as diplomatic goodwill.

"We hope the pandas, with their tame nature, air of nobleness
and cuddly looks will bring joy and laughter to the Taiwan
compatriots, children in particular," the Xinhua news agency
quoted Chen Yunlin, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, as saying.

The offer, however, could run into trouble. Members of
President Chen's party were opposed.

"We feel that their gift of giant pandas is partly to further
their political goal of unification," DPP lawmaker Jao Yung-ching
told a news conference.

Whether mainland Chinese tourists can start visiting Taiwan is
also up in the air. Even if China lifts limits, Taiwan imposes
its own restrictions: ordinary Chinese citizens now need
invitations from Taiwan groups to visit the island.

China said people from Taiwan made 3.7 million trips to the
mainland in 2004, while only 145,000 mainlanders visited Taiwan.

Beijing's decision in mid-2003 to loosen visa restrictions on
mainlanders visiting Hong Kong has led to a surge in arrivals and
helped underpin the territory's economic recovery.

Xinhua said China planned to scrap tariffs on over 10 kinds of
Taiwan fruit and allow imports of six more fruit species,
bringing the total to 18.

The move could help the KMT win supporters in southern Taiwan,
eroding a key support base for President Chen, who is reviled on
the mainland for his pro-independence stance.

Chen Yunlin called for consultations with Taiwan's tourism
industry and also said China hoped Taiwan would allow its
agricultural organizations to talk with the mainland about issues
such as inspection, quarantine and direct transport.

The biggest obstacle to the sale of Taiwan farm produce on the
mainland was the absence of direct flights, Xinhua said. Beijing
has been pushing for Taipei to end a decades-old ban on direct
air links across the Strait.

Lien's visit and one later this week by James Soong, head of
Taiwan's People First Party, "helped deepen the affection between
Chinese compatriots on the two sides", Chen Yunlin said.

Soong is to meet Hu next week. President Chen said on Monday
he had asked Soong to deliver a message to Beijing, but declined
to divulge details.