After historic meeting between Taiwan’s vice-president-elect and mainland’s president, Taipei wants to renew the dialogue with China. Time and trust are needed though.

Taipei (AsiaNews) – The Chinese government has agreed to restart official talks after a 10-year hiatus, this according to Taiwan’s Vice President-elect Vincent Siew, who met Chinese President Hu Jintao in an historic visit to the mainland.

“There’s a lot of ice here, so we don’t want to melt it all at once and turn it into a flood,” said Siew, back from an economic forum on Boao where the meeting was held. “We need time, wisdom and will power to accumulate goodwill and mutual trust.”

According to the KMT leader, it was too early to comment on a timetable, but that both sides wanted to start talks as soon as possible.

The last eight years have seen relations across the Taiwan Strait sour under the administration of outgoing President Chen Shui-bian, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) favours formal independence from China.

Since last month when voters overwhelmingly picked KMT leader Ma Ying-jeou to become Taiwan’s next president, the two governments have restarted talks, mostly on economic matters.

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