A central government spokesman said in Beijing yesterday that any meeting between President Hu Jintao and Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian should be held in China.
"The Taiwan issue is an internal issue of the Chinese people, so any such meeting should only occur on our own soil," said Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
His statement came at a Beijing news conference when asked to comment on Chen's remark that he would like to meet with Hu in the United States.
At the news briefing, Li also reiterated the principle that the mainland is ready to talk with any persons or parties on developing cross-strait relations and promoting peaceful reunification "if only they accept the one-China principle and the '1992 Consensus' that embodies the one-China principle."
"This principle applies to any individuals or parties, no matter what they have said or done in the past," Li said.
While a meeting between Hu and Chen remains uncertain, Taiwan's New Party will become the third opposition organization to visit the mainland this year, following the Kuomintang and the People First Party.
New Party officials plan to visit several mainland cities from July 6 to 13 in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory against Japan in World War II. Party Chairman Yu Muming will meet "very" high-ranking officials, according to Taiwanese press reports.
Yu said at a news conference yesterday in Taiwan that the party will communicate with the mainland on the basis of an integrated Chinese nation.
"We will arrange a full courteous reception for the delegation," said Li of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Li said the delegation will visit Guangzhou, Nanjing, Dalian and Beijing.
The visit planning comes as a new report shows that the mainland had approved the establishment of 65,568 Taiwan-funded businesses by the end of May, with the contractual use of Taiwan investment topping US$82.77 billion.
"The mainland is the biggest export market for Taiwan," He Shizhong, director of the economic bureau of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said yesterday. "The mainland is also the biggest contributor to Taiwan's trade surplus."
He said the mainland has set up four "Taiwan investment zones" in the cities of Fuzhou, Xiamen, Xinglin and Jimei; several "cross-strait science and technology parks" in Shenyang, Nanjing, Chengdu and Wuhan; "experimental zones for cross-strait agricultural cooperation" in the provinces of Fujian, Shandong, Hainan, Heilongjiang and Shaanxi; and "parks for Taiwan farmers to start business" in the provinces of Fujian, Shandong, Sichuan and Heilongjiang.
In addition, the mainland has approved the establishment of two Taiwan-funded banks, one Taiwan-funded insurance company, seven representative offices of Taiwan banks, 12 Taiwan-funded securities firms and nearly 30 representative offices of nine Taiwan insurance companies.