Taiwan's New Party started its eight-day visit to the mainland yesterday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. During "the journey of Chinese nation," the 30-member group led by party chairman Yok Mu-ming will visit Guangzhou, Nanjing, Dalian and Beijing where top mainland leaders are expected to meet the delegation.

The mainland trip is the third one by Taiwan's opposition parties following the back-to-back mainland visits of Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong from late April to mid-May. It represents the fresh effort of Taiwanese political parties which recognize the Chinese nation and oppose "Taiwan independence" to promote mutual understanding among people across the Straits.

By featuring the 60th anniversary commemorations, the New Party's visit bears special significance to the development of cross-Straits relations. It will help people on both sides of the Straits relive the history of their joint eight-year fight against the invading Japanese.

What is more important, the trip will highlight the significance of unity to the Chinese nation at a crucial time. In the 1930s, when the country faced the imminent danger of being conquered, the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang put aside their political differences and co-operated with each other to combat a common enemy.

If there had been no unity among the Chinese people, China could not have achieved its bitterly fought victory in 1945. That fully testifies to the overriding significance of fundamental national interests over the interests of individual political parties.

Sixty years on, the Chinese nation needs cross-Straits unity more than ever as it strives for national rejuvenation. Only through unity can both sides of the Straits share their development experience and create common prosperity for the benefit of their people. Any attempt to promote Taiwan's secession from China will undermine the interests of the entire Chinese nation and cannot be tolerated.

The mainland has never given up its efforts to push for cross-Straits unity, despite attempts of obstruction from Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration. To explore new ways of forwarding cross-Straits relations, Beijing has proposed holding consultations with the island's political parties and organizations that recognize the "1992 consensus," oppose "Taiwan independence" and support the development of cross-Straits ties. The visits by Lien, Soong and Yok to the mainland are a part of Beijing's achievements in easing cross-Straits tensions and improving cross-Straits ties.

The mainland has also demonstrated its sincerity and goodwill towards Taiwan through introducing preferential policies on a wide range of issues. They include granting tariff-free treatment to 15 varieties of Taiwan-grown fruit and lifting the ban on mainland tourists visiting the island. Meanwhile, the mainland has unveiled new rules to encourage employment of Taiwan compatriots on the mainland and further facilitate their entry there. New plans will also be introduced soon to reduce tuition fees and set up special scholarships for Taiwanese students studying in mainland universities.

All these policies, if implemented, will greatly benefit the Taiwanese public. Regrettably, the DPP administration has been dragging its feet in arranging cross-Straits talks to make way for the implementation of these policies purely out of the party's self interests.

The DPP administration's inaction, however, cannot stop the emerging trend of stronger cross-Straits relations and closer exchanges among people across the Straits. On Tuesday, KMT Vice-Chairman Chiang Pin-kung led a group of Taiwanese business leaders to attend a two-day forum on IT industrial standards in Beijing, amid efforts to strengthen cross-Straits co-operation in high-tech sectors. The first cross-Straits forum for county and city-level lawmakers also opened yesterday in Nanjing and drew 200 lawmakers from both sides of the Straits. All these events, as well as the mainland visit of the New Party, signal the ever-closer bonds of unity between the people on both sides of the Straits.

(China Daily July 7, 2005)