Foreign and Military Affairs

Cross-Strait military exchanges possible

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-31 13:08

BEIJING - The two sides of the Taiwan Strait can hold contacts and exchanges on military issues at an appropriate time and talk about a military security mechanism of mutual trust, says a white paper on national defense issued on Thursday.

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are destined to ultimate reunification in the course of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, says the white paper, issued by the Information Office of the State Council.

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It is the responsibility of the Chinese people on both sides of the Strait to work hand in hand to end the history of hostility, and to avoid repeating the history of armed conflict between fellow countrymen, the report says.

The two sides should take a positive attitude toward the future, and strive to create favorable conditions to gradually resolve, through consultation on an equal footing, both issues inherited from the past and new ones that emerge in the development of cross-Straits relations, it says.

The two sides may discuss political relations in the special situation that China is not yet reunified in a pragmatic manner, it says.

The two sides can hold contacts and exchanges on military issues at an appropriate time and talk about a military security mechanism of mutual trust, in a bid to act together to adopt measures to further stabilize cross-Strait relations and ease concerns regarding military security, it says.

The two sides should hold consultations on the basis of upholding the one-China principle to formally end hostilities and reach a peace agreement, it says.