The parties would seek to forge closer economic ties between Taiwan and the mainland and to reduce military tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the leaders agreed.

Emerging from their two-hour meeting, Mr Lien conceded that he could only spell out his vision for better cross-strait relations. As leader of an opposition party, there were limits on what he could achieve.

Mr Lien said he and Mr Hu agreed that whatever had happened in the past, the two parties must live in the present and work for a better future.

The KMT leader said that, although the party was not in power in Taiwan, it had reached out to Beijing because cross-strait relations concerned the welfare of the people on both sides of the strait. His party intended to join forces with other like-minded parties and individuals to improve cross-strait ties, he said.

Party-to-party contacts provided an alternative to official talks, which had broken off 'due to the fast-changing circumstances' since 1998, said Mr Lien, in an oblique reference to the rupture caused when the mainland called off talks in protest at then-president Lee Teng-hui visiting the United States.

The two party leaders discussed security, economic co-operation and Taiwan's representation in international organisations.

Mr Lien admitted that, despite the goodwill between the two parties, pushing forward bilateral trade in agricultural goods, protecting the rights of Taiwan businessmen on the mainland and approving direct trade, transport and communications links required action by the Taiwanese government.

The thriving trade between the mainland and Taiwan was mutually beneficial, he said. The two sides complemented each other and the sum was greater than the parts.

'I specially emphasise that one plus one is greater than two,' the KMT leader said.

A common market had become the mechanism of choice for countries and regions to forge closer economic ties, Mr Lien said, and noted common markets could evolve over time. It took the European Union 50 years to achieve economic and political integration, beginning with the removal of trade barriers, tariff reductions and the free flow of information and proceeding to monetary union.

While some countries wrote specific provisions into their agreements on a common market, others were open-ended, Mr Lien said. A flexible common-market agreement would help promote cross-strait economic ties.

He said governments would have to put such a plan into action, but to overcome official reluctance, non-governmental and trade groups could hold economic forums to pave the way.

Mr Lien did not mince his words when it came to security issues.

'I can tell you frankly that [Taiwan's security] depends on the ruling party,' he said. 'As an opposition party, we can only propose a mechanism to promote mutual trust.'

For more than 50 years, cross-strait relations have been fraught with tension. The KMT leader challenged the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party to take responsibility for reducing tensions across the Taiwan Strait by giving such a proposal serious thought.

Before leaving for the mainland, Mr Lien had told President Chen Shui-bian that the role of the government would be key to implementing proposals for change.