China welcomes Ma's likely party post

BEIJING, June 11 (UPI) -- The first ever China-Taiwan talks at the highest level may happen after Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou becomes his party's chairman, experts said.

Experts on cross-Straits issues told the China Daily that Ma, who became Taiwan's president in May of last year, was also soon set to become chairman of the ruling Kuomintang party.

That could facilitate a meeting at least at the party level between Ma and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Ma's rise to power has helped improve relations between the countries, although their current exchanges are limited to party-to-party talks. The two countries have had separate governments for six decades, but the Communist country has never relinquished its sovereign claims over Taiwan.

KMT's current chairman, Wu Poh-hsiung, has agreed to step down, and Ma announced Wednesday he would run to head the party, China Daily said, adding no one else is expected to seek the post before next month's election.

Ma can visit Beijing only as KMT chairman and Hu can hold talks with him only in his role as party general secretary, the newspaper reported. However, experts said such as meeting will signal "great reconciliation" between the two countries.

"Though there will still be political differences, the positions across the Straits are now crystal clear and reconciliation looks almost certain," Lin Shou-shan, a senior KMT member, told China Daily.

Other experts cautioned Ma must convince fellow Taiwanese to let him visit China.