REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING - China and Taiwan began their highest-level official talks since 1949 on Tuesday, negotiations that could lead to the two setting up representative offices, though sensitive political issues are not likely to be broached.

The talks between Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Minister Wang Yu-chi and China's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, who heads the Taiwan Affairs Office, mark a big step towards expanding cross-strait dialogue beyond economic and trade issues.

Taiwan's Wang described his meeting with Zhang, in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, as "an unimaginable occasion in earlier years", China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

"Being able to sit down and talk is a really valuable opportunity, considering that the two sides were once almost at war," Wang said.