CHINESE President Hu Jintao demonstrated goodwill towards Taiwan by holding a brief conversation with Mr Lee Yuan-tseh, the island's representative at the Apec summit in Santiago, Chile.

Although the two men had spoken together in a similar manner when they attended the Apec meeting held in Bangkok last year, the atmosphere this time was apparently much better.

Mr Lee told reporters that his meeting with China's President was cordial. Said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan: ""What happened was that at the Apec meeting, Mr Lee Yuan-tseh, the representative from Taiwan, came up to President Hu and they did have a brief conversation.''

According to agency reports, reporters asked Mr Kong whether the meeting was cordial.

He replied: ""The core element of their conversation was that President Hu emphasised that the "one China' principle must be adhered to.

""So if Mr Lee called the meeting cordial, it must be because they discussed the "one China' principle.''

However, Taiwanese media reported that Mr Lee denied discussing cross-strait issues with the Chinese leader on Sunday.

""I did not come to the Apec meeting to talk about cross-strait ties,'' the United Evening News quoted him as saying.

But he said the atmosphere of the meeting, which lasted a few minutes, was good.

According to him, both he and Mr Hu ""could talk as friends'', as they had a certain degree of trust and goodwill towards each other.

He said mutual trust, friendship and interaction, as well as heart-to-heart exchange were crucial.

""It is most important that I establish friendship and mutual trust with Mr Hu,'' he said.

And when a journalist pressed him hard for more information about the meeting, Mr Lee even commented that ""Chairman Hu treated me 100 times better than you do''.

Although Mr Lee claimed he did not touch on cross-strait issues during the meeting, he said he had discussed matters relevant to the Apec agenda with the President, as well as the economic development of the Chinese mainland.

But he said ""President Chen Shui-bian would not be disappointed'' with him, as he had already delivered the Taiwanese
President's message about his peace overtures towards the mainland at a separate news conference.

""There is no need to repeat them at this meeting with Mr Hu,'' he explained.

""Improving cross-strait ties is the responsibility of President Chen. That can be achieved through numerous means,'' he added, but did not elaborate.

Such an upbeat mood over China-Taiwan contacts has never been seen in previous Apec meetings.

Said Mr Wang Mingyi of China Times, a veteran observer of cross-strait relations: ""In previous meetings, although
representatives from both sides of the strait shook hands, Beijing's leader often tried to avoid eye contact with Taipei's envoy.''

Mr Hu's gesture could be viewed as an incremental step forward in his adjustment of China's policy towards Taiwan.

After he assumed full military power in September, he had said that the biggest test facing the Chinese leadership was whether it could solve the Taiwan issue without a disastrous aftermath.

Mr Hu's brief encounter with Mr Lee comes at a time when calls for a military solution are strong and loud.

It suggests that Mr Hu is willing to give peace a chance by adopting a more flexible and relaxed policy towards Taiwan.

This stance reflects his instruction to a national conference on Taiwan which came up with a new guideline strive for talks, be ready to fight, and don't mind waiting.

The fresh guideline effectively nullified one of the rationales for using force against Taiwan as spelt out in a 2000 White Paper.

In that document, any use of force was justified if the island declared independence, or was invaded by foreign powers, or if it delayed coming to the negotiation table indefinitely.

The new guideline also scrapped the 2020 deadline for achieving unification reportedly set by President Hu's predecessor, Mr Jiang Zemin, early this year.

Mr Hu's meeting with Mr Lee is in line with the current stance of greater patience towards Taiwan.

In a rare move, the online version of China's official People's Daily carried a brief news item yesterday on Mr Lee's involvement in the non-official meetings at the Apec summit.

While there was no direct reference to the meeting between him and Mr Hu, it is significant that China even mentioned Taiwan's participation at Apec.

The online report cited Mr Lee's remark, upon his arrival at Santiago, that he did not want to see tensions across the Taiwan Strait sparking off another world war.

It also quoted him as saying that he now fully understood how the cross-strait issue had become the focus of international concern, after talking to the international media.