Related Event: Peaceful Reunification

Commenting on the meeting between CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao and Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan, the spokesperson for the European Commission, Emma Udwin, says the EU's executive arm hopes the meeting will lead to solving the tension across the Taiwan Straits through dialogue.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the United States welcomes dialogue across the Taiwan Straits as the US believes cross-Straits dialogue is important to promoting peace and stability in the region.

Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew called the Hu-Lien meeting a historic one as both sides recognize the "one-China" consensus.

Portugal's Lusa news agency termed the Hu-Lien handshake, the first between the top leaders of the two parties since 1945, as "historic", symbolizing an end to hostility and opens a new chapter in the cross-Straits relations.

Associations of overseas Chinese in South Africa also expressed their support for the efforts made by the two parties to maintain peace and promote mutual development through enhanced cooperation.