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BEIJING-Chinese President Hu Jintao offered broad peace talks with self-ruled Taiwan under its "one China" policy on Tuesday, weeks before the island elects a new president, but Taiwan rejected Beijing's conditions.Hu also reached out to pro-independence politicians, saying China would welcome them if they shifted their stance. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war and insists the island accept reunification, by force if necessary.Taiwan holds a presidential election on March 22 alongside a referendum on U.N. membership that Beijing sees as a step towards independence.In an indirect but clear reference to Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who is due to step down, Hu said independence moves were a disaster and the biggest threat to peace between the two sides.But in what Chinese media billed as an important speech before Taiwan votes, Hu focused on courting the island with offers of peace talks, but under the "one-China" principle."Status in negotiations would be equal and the topics would be open, any issue can be discussed," Hu told a group of advisers to parliament who came from Taiwan or have ancestral links there.The "one China" principle says the island and the mainland are part of a single sovereign country.Taiwan has rejected "one China" as an unfair precondition.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
