HONG KONG, May 15. /TASS/. Lai Ching-te, new head of Taiwan’s administration, has asserted that he is ready for dialogue with the authorities of mainland China.

"I will not rule out dialogue with China on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefits, and dignity," he said in a video address to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Lai stressed that dialogue between Taipei and Beijing should be conducted "with no preconditions."

China’s authorities have repeatedly noted that what is known as the 1992 Consensus is a condition for dialogue with Taiwan, however, Lai claimed not to support it. He will be officially sworn in on May 20.

"The 1992 Consensus" is an agreement reached at a historic semi-official meeting in Hong Kong between representatives of the Communist Party of China and the then ruling Kuomintang Party on Taiwan. It implies the recognition of the principle of Chinese unity, that is that there is only one Chinese state in the world. However, each side has the right to interpret it in its own way. For Beijing, it is the People’s Republic of China, established on October 1, 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War, and for Taipei, it is the Republic of China, which existed on the mainland before 1949.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after being defeated in China’s civil war. Since then, Taiwan has preserved the flag and some other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed in mainland China before the Communists came to power. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces and this position is supported by most countries, including Russia.