China and Taiwan have a "long way to go" to build up military trust, state media said Monday August 2, after Beijing reportedly offered to consider removing its missiles pointed at the self-ruled island.
Defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said Friday July 30 that Beijing would agree to talks with Taiwan on military security "at a proper time" with an eye on trust-building, according to an official press conference transcript.
Geng however cautioned that such an offer was conditional on Taiwan's acceptance of the "one-China principle".
Taipei -- for which the "one-China principle" means surrendering its sovereignty to Beijing -- rejected the suggestion, with Premier Wu Den-yih quoted in the press as saying: "We cannot possibly agree to what he said."
Taiwan again called on Beijing to pursue peace through dialogue and remove the missiles.
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly urged Beijing to remove the ballistic missiles, insisting Taipei is unlikely to conduct talks on political relations under the perceived military threat from Beijing.
China's Global Times -- which is published by the Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily -- said in an editorial Monday that Taiwan's reaction was "not completely surprising".
"When it comes to building military trust, the sombre reality is that there is still a long way to go," the newspaper said. (Source: Agence France-Presse, MNS.com, Aug 2, 2010).