Taiwan, China See Progress From Historic Talks

AFP reports on the talks between Taiwan vice president-elect Vincent Siew and Chinese President Hu Jintao:

Taiwan’s vice president-elect and Chinese President Hu Jintao met Saturday in the highest-level contact ever between the two sides, with direct flights an early topic of discussion.

Vincent Siew and Hu mainly talked about economic issues in their 20 minutes together, seen as an indicator of the incoming Taiwan government’s ability to bring about better ties with giant China.

“The talk was friendly, candid, and harmonious, and there were results,” Siew told reporters in a short press conference directly after meeting Hu. He later characterized the Chinese leader as “pragmatic.”