People across the Taiwan Straits will keep a close eye on the upcoming mainland visit by Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan. The KMT, Taiwan's largest opposition party, announced yesterday that Lien will embark on what he called the "journey of peace" next Tuesday.

This is the first official mainland trip by a KMT chairman in 56 years and Lien is also the island's highest-ranking politician to visit the mainland since 1949.

Lien's visit is set to help strengthen cross-Straits exchanges and improve relations between Taiwan and the mainland. During his week-long visit, the KMT leader is scheduled to hold talks with Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on a wide rang of issues.

Although we do not yet know what topics will be on the agenda and what achievements will be made, such a face-to-face meeting and direct view-exchanging between the two top party leaders itself is of significance. The highest-level meeting will hopefully herald the establishment of regular communication between the two parties to enhance mutual understanding and trust across the Straits.

Over the past two decades, great progress has been made in cross-Straits economic, trade and cultural exchanges, contributing to stability in bilateral ties. But political exchanges across the Straits have been inactive due to the Taiwan authorities' refusal to resume negotiations under the one-China principle that both Taiwan and the mainland belong to one and the same China. The lack of political exchanges has affected further improvement of cross-Straits relations.

Given the current political stalemate in cross-Straits ties, the talks between the CPC and KMT have more significance than a simple party-to-party meeting. They will have a far-reaching impact on the development of cross-Straits relations.

The CPC-KMT dialogue offers an opportunity for Taiwan and the mainland to promote reconciliation and peace across the Straits. Hopefully, it will help lay some groundwork for exploring a win-win solution so that both sides can enjoy a favourable environment for achieving common economic development.

The inter-party exchange conforms to the public's hopes for peace, development and stability, and benefits everybody.

Promoting consultation with Taiwan's opposition parties, such as the KMT and the People First Party (PFP), testifies to Beijing's maximum sincerity to do whatever it can to help Taiwan compatriots, to improve cross-Straits exchanges and to foster peace in the Straits. Equally, the KMT and the PFP have showed their determination to fulfil their "unshirkable duty" to do anything conducive to cross-Straits relations by planning their mainland visits despite pressure from the Taiwan authorities. PFP Chairman James Soong is also due to visit the mainland soon.

Sadly, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has ignored growing calls from the Taiwan public for better ties with the mainland. As the opposition parties are making great efforts to promote closer cross-Straits ties, the DPP administration has moved to set up hurdles to bilateral exchanges.

While imposing more limits on cross-Straits economic and cultural exchanges, it has also threatened the opposition parties with legal action for their mainland visits.

The DPP, bound by its strong ideology and pro-independence stance, has apparently underestimated the wisdom of the Taiwan people. It is a mission impossible for any party, including the DPP, to win the hearts of the people while hurting their fundamental interests.

(China Daily April 21, 2005)