Lin Feng-cheng, secretary-general of Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT), the Nationalist Party, arrived in Beijing on Monday afternoon to make arrangements for the mainland visit of the party's chairman.

The Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said Lin is scheduled to hold talks with them to finalize the details of Lien Chan's planned trip.

Also yesterday, key figures gathered at a forum in Hong Kong to discuss current relationships across the Taiwan Straits and their economic and cultural prospects.

Speaking at the first "Straits Forum," Wu Den-Yih, former mayor of Taiwan's Kaohsiung City, said exchanging views across the Straits is of great significance, and whatever benefits communication and understanding should be encouraged by both sides.

He stressed the importance of normalizing cross-Straits relations and the "Three Exchanges" (exchange of mail, trade, and air and shipping services), citing the surging trade volume between the mainland and Taiwan, and the fact that the mainland has become Taiwan's biggest export market and source of trade surplus.

He said there is now a crucial opportunity for the relationship to improve, expressing hope that leaders of Taiwan's authorities could grasp it.

Alexander Pan, chairman of the Asia Pacific Taiwan Federation of Industry & Commerce, the organizer of the forum, said its success shows that Hong Kong society is greatly concerned about the issues involved.

He hoped that Hong Kong, by giving full play to its advantages to serve as a platform for communications, could play an important role in developing relations.

(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2005)