China calls for talks with Taiwan

A senior Chinese official has called for the resumption of talks with Taiwan on the political future of the island, which Beijing views as a renegade province.

The official the director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Chen Yunlin said talks could be held on a basis of equality, rather than between the centre and a region.

The BBC Beijing correspondent says this represents a conciliatory gesture by China -- but says serious obstacles remain.

Previous talks were abandoned in 1995 after Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui enraged Beijing by visiting the United States.

Taiwan's Vice President, Lien Chan, called on his return from Singapore yesterday for the resumption of consultations with mainland China without preconditions.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service