Eric Chu (right), CNA file photo.

Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu, who is almost sure to be elected Kuomintang (KMT) chairman next month, said Sunday that a meeting with China's top leader Xi Jinping is not a priority for him, at least not for the moment.

Chu, who doubles as a KMT vice chairman, was asked by reporters when he appeared at party headquarters to register his candidacy for the party's top post if there will soon be a meeting between him and Xi.

"I will only talk about this after I have been elected party chairman," he said, adding that he had not given any thought to the idea up to now.

Asked whether he will attend an annual forum between the KMT and the Communist Party of China scheduled to take place next year in China, Chu said cross-Taiwan Strait relations must continue to progress and all necessary meetings or forums between the two sides should be held as usual.

"Cross-strait relations must stick to the current peaceful, open and mutually beneficial path, no matter which party is in power," he said.

"But the economic benefits brought about by cross-strait development must not only go to a few vested groups," he said. "We will pay special attention to an equitable distribution of wealth."

Chu is the only candidate running for the KMT's top post after President Ma Ying-jeou, who has sought unsuccessfully to meet Xi, resigned from the position to take responsibility for the massive defeat suffered by the party in the Nov. 29 local elections.

Chu was the only KMT nominee to be elected mayor in Taiwan's six major metropolitan areas, which account for nearly 70 percent of the country's population.

(By Kelvan Huang and Flor Wang)
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