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December 20, 2008

China Pledges Economic Assistance to Taiwan
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=211E074:A6F02AD83191E16048B2DF77EFBBC7BC0531BB26A5003E7B&
 
Xinhua news agency quotes senior Communist party leader as saying that
if Taiwan asks for help, Beijing will do its utmost to offer assistance 
Investors look at monitors outside a stock trading house in Taipei, 07
Nov 2008China says it is willing to provide economic assistance to
Taiwan if the island needs it to get through the global financial
downturn. China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Jia Qinglin, a
senior Communist party leader, as saying Saturday that if Taiwan asks
for help, Beijing will do its utmost to offer assistance. Xinhua said
Jia made the comment at the opening of a two-day meeting between the two
sides in Shanghai. Jia did not specify what kind of assistance or how
much would be offered. The statement was the latest indication of
warming relations between the two rivals. On Monday, China and Taiwan
launched the restoration of the first direct air, sea and postal links
since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949. The new transportation
links mark warming cross-strait relations, while also lowering travel
time and costs between the two major trading partners. Passenger flights
flew Monday morning from China to Taiwan's capital, Taipei, and from
Taipei, to Shanghai on the mainland. Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou was
in Taiwan's port city of Kaohsiung to see off a cargo ship headed to the
Chinese port of Tianjin, while another freighter began its journey in
the opposite direction. The links are part of an agreement reached in
November that establishes a cargo charter flight service and regular
passenger flights, which used to take off only on weekends and during
major festivals. Since taking office in May, Mr. Ma has promoted closer
ties with China. Until recently, travelers usually had to pass through a
third region like Hong Kong or Macau to get from China to Taiwan.

 Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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