KMT visit paves way for greater exchanges
Officials on both sides urge people to grasp an 'opportunity given by history'
Beijing last night said the visit by Kuomintang vice-chairman Chiang Pin-kung has started a new era of talks between the KMT and the Communist Party that will pave the way for further exchanges.
On the third and final leg of the KMT delegation's historic visit to the mainland, Mr Chiang and his KMT colleagues attended a dinner hosted by Chen Yunlin , director of the Communist Party's Central Office for Taiwan Affairs. Mr Chen also heads the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.
The KMT delegation is expected to meet State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and Jia Qinglin , chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, today. One topic to be discussed is the mainland visit by KMT chairman Lien Chan, which could happen in May.
Mr Chen said in a speech at the dinner that Mr Chiang's visit would lead to further dialogue between the Communist Party and the KMT. 'As long as the views exchanged are in accordance with the wishes of comrades from the two sides of the strait, [the meeting] will definitely become an important impetus for the promotion of further exchanges across the strait,' he was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Mr Chen and Mr Chiang called on people from both sides of the strait to grasp an 'opportunity given by history' to realise the dreams of mutual prosperity, stability and development.
After the meeting, the KMT delegation held talks with officials from mainland departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, as well as the General Administration of Customs. The KMT officials were scheduled to meet the press afterwards.
Before wrapping up the Nanjing trip and heading to Beijing yesterday, Mr Chiang visited KMT founder Sun Yat-sen's tomb. Mr Chiang and his delegation of more than 30 KMT officials climbed 392 stone steps to the mausoleum.
They than bowed three times before a statue of Sun and entered the coffin chamber.
'People on both sides of the strait should take Mr Sun as a teacher and together create a win-win situation,' he said after the mausoleum visit.
He invoked Sun's 'Three Principles of the People' - nationalism, democracy and people's livelihood - and other ideals of the revolutionary, who died in 1925. The KMT supports eventual reunification with a democratic China.
As Mr Chiang toured the site, security officials pushed and shouted at scores of journalists and tourists to make way for the delegation, whisking away at least two people who tried to talk to him. Some mainland tourists applauded after realising the KMT official's identity.
Posing for a camera crew from CCTV, an elderly man said: 'We must strike down Taiwan independence.'
The mainland recently passed an Anti-Secession Law that allows the mainland to use force if Taiwan moves towards independence.
