China offered Taiwan a compromise formula for the resumption of talks to end decades of conflict, it was announced in Beijing Thursday, but Taiwan rejected the formula as repackaging, dpa reported Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao made the offer of "two sides, one China" when he met with Taiwan opposition leader James Soong. The compromise formula appeared in a joint communique issued after the meeting between Hu and the leader of Taiwan's second biggest opposition party, the pro-unification People First Party (PFP). Beijing also offered to launch direct air links, open a free trade zone and sign a peace treaty with Taiwan. Taiwan rejected the compromise formula Thursday, saying it is a repackaging of Beijing's long-standing principle that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China. The formula makes Taiwan "a second Hong Kong, a localized and special administrative district of China", Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said in an interview with Formosa Television news channel broadcast late Thursday. --More 2324 Local Time 2024 GMT
