The Chinese mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) chairman Chen Yunlin will lead a delegation to Taiwan from December 3 to 7, the first meeting on the island between the two parties.

According to ARATS's vice chairman Zheng Lizhong, the ARATS and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) will discuss cross-Straits shipping, air transport, post service and food safety in the second contact of the two organizations' current leaders.

The trip comes in the wake of the manhandling by a mob of Zhang Mingqing, dean of journalism at Xiamen University and ARATS deputy chief, in Taiwan last week.

A local lawmaker from the Democratic Progressive Party allegedly incited a mob to carry out the attack, in which Zhang was shoved to the ground.

Zhang was visiting the island at the invitation of the Taiwan National University of the Arts.

The ARATS had asked the Taiwan authority to prevent further such outbreaks.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2008)