China, Taiwan Take Steps To Reconcile

BEIJING — China and Taiwan, its arch-rival, sealed a year of reconciliation yesterday with the highest-level official meeting since the civil war split more than half a century ago.

President Hu welcomed Wu Poh-hsiung, the chairman of the Kuomintang, Taiwan's ruling party, in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, in a ceremony shown live on television. The Kuomintang is the modern-day successor of the Chinese Nationalist Party, which once ruled the whole country before being driven out by the communists in 1949.

The reconciliation has been made possible by the victory of the Kuomintang in presidential elections this year.

Its nominee, Ma Ying-jeou, was elected president on a manifesto of improving ties with Beijing. His stance is so deeply welcomed by Beijing, which loathed Chen Shui-bian, his predecessor, that it has overlooked Mr. Ma's cautious position on the island's future sovereignty.

While he will not declare the island's legal independence, he has ruled out the reunification that Beijing seeks, at least until there are free elections in China. Mr. Chen advocated independence for the island, though he promised when first elected in 2000 not to make a legal declaration, something China has always said would trigger the use of force.