Zhang Mingqing, spokesman with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said no contact has been planned so far this year between top envoys from the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on the island.

He made the remarks at a regular press conference when asked to comment on earlier Taiwanese media reports that ARATS Chairman Wang Daohan might meet his Taiwanese counterpart, Koo Chen-fu, at a Singaporean event in April.

Wang and Koo, SEF president, were expected to meet for the first time in five years while attending the event organized by the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore to mark the 10th anniversary of their first talks.

Zhang, however, said Wang has decided against attending the commemorative event, dashing the hope of a meeting between the two envoys. "As far as we know, Chairman Wang does not have any plan to go to Singapore (to attend the event)," he said.

Wang and Koo held their first meeting in Singapore 10 years ago, a rare high-level contact that signaled major progress in cross-Straits relations.

But the talks were broken off in 1999 after former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui introduced his notorious "two states" theory on July 9, 1999, which defines cross-Straits relations as a special state-to-state relationship.

Wang's planned visit to the island was also cancelled.

Zhang stressed the mainland has the utmost sincerity and kindness in restarting cross-Straits dialogue on the basis of the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus.

Under the 1992 consensus, an informal agreement reached orally between ARATS and SEF in November 1992, the two sides of the Straits both adhere to the one-China principle.

"The contact and negotiations between ARATS and SEF can be jump-started at once as long as the Taiwan authorities explicitly embrace the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus," Zhang said.

At the press briefing, Zhang also said Beijing may allow more charter flights this year during holidays such as the traditional Chinese Tomb-Sweeping Day in early April and Mid-Autumn Festival for the benefit of Taiwan compatriots.

The successful implementation of the indirect charter flight scheme between Shanghai and Taipei during the Spring Festival has provided rich experience for the establishment of direct cross-Straits air links, according to Zhang.

He urged Chen to honor his pledge to push for the realization of two-way and direct transport links between Taiwan and the mainland, which conforms to the wide interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Six Taiwanese airlines operated a total of 16 charter flights to and from the mainland for the first time in 54 years between January 26 and February 10, but they had to stop in Hong Kong or Macao.

The landmark program was considered an initial step forward towards the opening-up of the three direct links -- trade, transport and postal services -- across the Straits.

The DPP administration led by Chen has been dragging its feet on lifting the decades-old ban on the three links, citing security concerns.

(China Daily February 27, 2003)