Hu urges restart of Straits talks

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, yesterday pledged to resume cross-Straits dialogue at the earliest date.

"Communication and dialogue between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on the basis of '1992 Consensus' should be resumed as soon as possible," Hu said while meeting Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung.

It was the first meeting between the chiefs of the two parties and also the highest-level contact across the Straits in six decades.