The Chinese mainland is ready to talk about everything, even its "missile" issue, with Taiwan, but only under the one-China principle, Wang Zaixi, deputy-director ofthe T aiwan Work Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee, said in Beijing on May 3 at a press conference.

    The possibility to talk about the issue has been underscored by the press communique issued last week by the CPC and the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Party during KMT Chairman Lien Chan's visit to the mainland.

    Under the one-China principle, the two sides can take the priority to discuss on the ending of hostility across the Taiwan Straits, the press communique says.

    On the issues of military mutual trust across the Straits and Taiwan's purchase of foreign weapons, Wang said that the mainland has been persistent in its stance since the 1980s that the Taiwan issue should be resolved peacefully through consultation under theone-China principle.

    Thus the mainland is "not in favor of the massive-scale purchase of advanced weaponry by Taiwan, because it is detrimentalto the peaceful reunification and economic development of Taiwan,"he said.

    The mainland has noticed that Taiwan's motion in 2004 to purchase more than 600 billion NT dollars of weapons from the United States has been opposed to by the majority of Taiwan compatriots, Wang said.

Direct cross-Straits travel

   Wang also said managing direct air and shipping links across the Taiwan Straits would not be difficult "if the issue were viewed as an internal affair."

    The mainland wants to establish the direct exchange of cargo across the Taiwan Straits first and extend the practice to passenger exchanges later.

    The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC),China's top legislature, put forward the notion of "Three Links" in 1979, referring to direct exchanges of mail, trade, air and shipping across the Taiwan Straits.

    Direct, non-stop charter flights across the Taiwan Straits was launched in January during the Chinese lunar new year, the first in 56 years in a move widely hailed by people across the Straits.

    "We are endeavoring to regularize charter flights during the holiday seasons or on a permanent basis," said Wang, adding the move was part of Beijing's efforts to realize the larger goal of "Three Links" as soon as possible.