Taiwan's envoy meets with Hu at APEC

Taiwan's envoy meets with Hu at APEC

TAIWAN: Taiwan's envoy to last week's Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit said on Thursday his encounter with
Chinese President Hu Jintao was too brief to allow him to discuss
tensions between the foes.

Lee Yuan-tseh, who attended the APEC summit on Nov. 20 and 21
because China objects to the presence of officials from the
island it claims as a breakaway province, said his chat with Hu
was friendly.

"We had opportunities to interact during the meeting. But an
encounter of only a few minutes was not to resolve disputes,"
Lee, a 1986 co-winner of the Nobel prize for chemistry, told a
news conference.

"We could feel each other's goodwill. Time was short and we
did not focus on cross-Strait issues " Lee said, declining to
give other details.

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who has called for a
resumption of talks with Beijing, said such exchanges were
conducive to better ties.

Taipei and Beijing, rivals since a civil war ended in 1949,
have not been on speaking terms since 1999 when then president
Lee Teng-hui redefined ties as "special state to state".

Tensions have been simmering in the Taiwan Strait since the
re-election of the pro-independence Chen last March because
Beijing is convinced the Taiwan leader wants to push for formal
statehood before his second term ends in 2008. --Reuters