Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (left) smiles after being conferred with an honorary doctorate yesterday from Nanjing University, Jiangsu province. The university said the degree was awarded to Wu in recognition of his "scholarly attainment" and the "wisdom and courage he's demonstrated in promoting the solidarity of the Chinese nation and cross-Straits prosperity".

Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party will prove peaceful development is the right path for cross-Straits relations, said its chairman Wu Poh-hsiung yesterday in Nanjing of east China's Jiangsu Province.

On the last full day of his mainland tour, Wu also urged people on both sides of the Straits to stay "open-minded" and "seize a golden opportunity".

"The KMT will use facts to prove to the Taiwan people that peaceful development is beneficial for both sides, and particularly for Taiwan," he said after receiving an honorary doctorate from Nanjing University, formerly the Central University of the KMT.

The Taipei-based China Post reported the 70-year-old could resign on his return to the island, making way for leader Ma Ying-jeou to succeed him. Wu refused to confirm the switch but assured reporters the KMT's stance would remain steady in the face of any changes to personnel.

Before the chairman's arrival last week, Chen Chu, the mayor of Kaohsiung and a leading figure in Taiwan's main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP), had just finished her own "ice-breaking" mainland trip.

Li Jiaquan, ex-director of the institute of Taiwan studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he believed cross-Straits exchanges were nearing "a peak".

"Communication between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the KMT is soaring, and the DPP is also changing its mainland policy. We have enough reason to expect new prospects for the cross-Straits relationship," he said.

Fujian-based website taihai.net said on Thursday the State Taiwan Affairs Office had set up a new department to handle future inter-party exchanges.

Li said it shows the mainland has adopted a more tolerant and flexible policy when handling cross-Straits affairs.

CPC-KMT ties have been boosted since 2005, when former KMT chairman Lien Chan met with President Hu Jintao in Beijing. They were the first talks between the parties' leaders in 60 years.

And after the KMT won the election in Taiwan in May last year, the closer contact has led to a warmer cross-Straits relationship. Nine agreements and one consensus have been signed between the mainland and Taiwan since the election, opening direct flights, shipping, postal services, tourism and two-way investment.

Nanjing was the last leg of Wu's tour. He was to visit the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the KMT, before heading home this morning to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the official burial of Dr. Sun in Nanjing.

He also visited Beijing, Chongqing and Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province.

Meanwhile, computer and home appliance manufacturers from the mainland arrived in Taiwan yesterday with plans to buy billions of dollars in goods and components, Associated Press reported.

Officials from 46 firms, including Lenovo and Haier, joined the buy-Taiwan group, said group leader Li Shuilin.

Media in Taiwan quoted unidentified officials saying the purchases could amount to $8 billion, including $2 billion worth of flat panel displays.

Purchasing groups sent by the mainland have continued to fuel Taiwan's economy, especially amid the economic crisis, Wu added.

(China Daily June 1, 2009)