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TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Vice President-elect Vincent Siew plans to attend the Boao forum in China and may meet Chinese President Hu Jintao, an aide for Mr Siew and local media said on Sunday, signalling warming ties between the two economies.
'Mr Siew should be able to go. China hasn't said no and that's why we've decided to announce to everybody that we'll be going to the forum on April 11 and returning on April 13,' the aide said.
Mr Siew will attend the Boao Forum For Asia, a high-level annual forum for government and business leaders, in the southern island province of Hainan in China, as chairman of Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation, which is a business organisation, he said.
Mr Siew, an ex-premier who has also held top economics posts in Taiwan, has been attending the forum as chairman of the foundation over the past few years.
Local media, such as the TVBS television station and the United Daily News, said Mr Siew might be able to meet Hu, who is scheduled to attend the event this year.
The Taiwan Affairs Office was not available for comment.
Mr Siew shared a ticket with President-elect Ma Ying Jeou during the presidential election on March 22 and their Nationalist Party (KMT), who favours closer trade ties with China, won by a landslide.
China sees Taiwan as a wayward province and wants to bring the island under its fold, by force if necessary. Despite political differences, trade ties have flourished and China has since become Taiwan's top trading partner and favourite investment destination.
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