Taipei, March 28 (CNA) Taiwan and China will seek out common interests to maintain regional stability, Taiwan's main opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen told visiting former United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage Monday.
Armitage, who is leading a delegation of security experts and think tank scholars on a week-long visit to Taiwan, was briefed by the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP's) chairwoman on the party's China policy during a closed-door meeting that lasted for more than an hour.
Tsai, who has announced her bid for the party's nomination for the 2012 presidential election, said she told Armitage that while there are a lot of differences between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan is responsible for keeping the region peaceful and stable as a member of the Asian community.
She contended the DPP was better prepared to govern and make policy now than when the party was in power from 2000-2008 and said it was very concerned with growing poverty and income inequality in addition to the sovereignty issue.
Armitage said he could sense the DPP had undergone a major transformation and become a more responsible and mature political party with changes in generation, policies and ideology, former Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Kau said after the meeting.
Armitage, who has also met National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen and Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang Monday, is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou, Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng Tuesday. He will leave Taiwan Wednesday.
The visiting delegation, most of whom served in former Republican administrations, will carry on without Armitage until April 2.
The delegation will be led by Randall Schriver, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs who is now president and chief executive officer of the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank focused on Asia-Pacific affairs. (By Sophia Yeh and Chris Wang) Enditem/ls