Minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council Wang Yu-chi met with his Chinese counterpart Zhang Zhijun in Beijing on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The meeting, held Wednesday, is significant because Taiwan and China do not recognize each other. It is very rare for government officials from the two sides to meet.
After the three-hour meeting, the two sides issued a press release saying that the two sides agree to continue to push for peaceful development of cross-strait relations on the foundation of the 1992 Consensus.
The 1992 Consensus refers to a tacit understanding between Taiwan and China. Both sides agree that there is only "one China", and both Mainland China and Taiwan are a part of it. But the two sides differ on what "one China" means. Taipei says it means the Republic of China on Taiwan, while Beijing says it means the People's Republic of China.
According to the press release, the two sides also agreed that they should seek to complete negotiations on the issue of setting up representative offices in each other’s territory.