China offers Taiwan pandas, Lien ends historic trip

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.

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 carring protest banners or weapons from entering the airport.

PANDA DIPLOMACY

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. (Additional reporting by Tiffany Wu and Alice Hung in Taipei)