Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan is expected to visit the
mainland in the near future, although the timetable has yet to be
finalized.?
James Soong, chairman of Taiwan's People First Party, also
expressed a wish to visit the mainland.
Between March 28 and April 1, a 34-member delegation of
opposition KMT officials, headed by vice chairman Chiang Pin-kung,
made the party's first official mainland visit in 56 years.
"This has shown that some of Taiwan's politicians are committed
to doing whatever they can to develop cross-Straits relations after
the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) failed to break the
mainland-Taiwan stalemate," said Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the
Taiwan Affairs Office of
the State Council.
He made the remarks when delivering a speech to military
attachés from the 40-plus foreign embassies in Beijing on
Friday.
The enactment of the Anti-Secession
Law has eased cross-Straits tensions despite the DPP
administration's continuing secessionist activities, Zhang
said.
He said a series of positive developments have occurred after
the law's approval.
More and more Taiwanese people, including politicians and
business people, have expressed their understanding of the law
while moving to improve bilateral ties, he said.
Zhang emphasized the mainland is willing to talk with any
Taiwanese party and organization as long as they uphold the
one-China principle that both Taiwan and the mainland belong to one
and the same China.
When speaking of cross-Straits economic and cultural exchanges,
Zhang said the exchanges are not based on an equal footing.
"Cross-Straits trade volume amounted to US$78.3 billion last year,
with the island's exports to the mainland hit US$57 billion," he
said.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese companies have been allowed to set up more
than 20 business representative offices on the mainland.
But the Taiwan authorities have not allowed any
mainland enterprises to set up business offices on the island,
Zhang said.
As for cross-Straits journalism exchanges, the mainland has
approved 11 Taiwanese media agencies to station correspondents on
the mainland while only five mainland media organizations are
allowed to cover news in Taiwan.
"On April 10, the Taiwan authorities temporarily banned
journalists from the Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily
from covering news on the island, arousing indignation from people
on both sides of the Straits," he said.
In a further development, leading researchers on Friday strongly
warned of further secessionist moves from the DPP
administration.
Zhou Zhihuai, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies
under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said a usual
political trick of the DPP is to woo voters by provoking
cross-Straits confrontation.
"We should stay on high alert against provocative acts that
endanger cross-Straits ties," Zhou said. The election for members
of the island's "national assembly" is scheduled for May 14.
Zhou made the warning at a seminar sponsored by China
Daily to provide a forum for academic discussion on current
events. Six noted researchers on Taiwan studies attended the
meeting, which is to become a regular event.
Yin Cunyi, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at
Tsinghua
University, also cautioned that Taiwan authorities may try to
block cross-Straits exchanges.
For instance, he said, Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian and his DPP
administration are attempting to prevent opposition parties from
pushing for closer ties with the mainland. Chen asked Lien Chan to
obtain government authorization before embarking on his planned
visit to the mainland.
(China Daily April 16, 2005)