Under current rules only mid-ranking officials from Liu's council, or officials invited by international organisations to attend forums in China, can visit the mainland. --PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAIPEI - TAIWAN will soon allow senior Cabinet officials to visit China, and is considering lifting a ban on military personnel traveling to the mainland, a government official said on Saturday.
The statement by Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liu Te-shun, a Cabinet-level agency in charge of implementing Taiwan's China policy, is the latest step in rapidly warming ties between Taiwan and rival China.
Under current rules only mid-ranking officials from Liu's council, or officials invited by international organisations to attend forums in China, can visit the mainland.
Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Mr Liu said Taiwan will let senior Cabinet officials, including ministers and their deputies, visit China in the near future due to increasing cross-strait exchanges.
'As the two sides have resumed talks and discussed cooperation in various fields, different agencies now have the need to meet their Chinese counterparts to follow up on these issues,' Mr Liu said.
Mr Liu said the Taiwanese government is also studying the feasibility of allowing military personnel to visit China, but it has yet made a decision.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. China continues to claim Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to attack if the island moves to formalize its de facto independence.
Tensions between the rivals has abated significantly since the inauguration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in May.
In contrast to his pro-independence predecessor, Mr Ma wants to tighten economic relations with China as a way of boosting Taiwan's economy. -- AP
