Key newspapers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao have lamented the death of Wang Daohan, praising his great contributions to the development of the relations acrossthe Taiwan Straits and praying for earlier reunification of China.

Wang, president of the mainland-based Association for RelationsAcross the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), died of disease in Shanghai Saturday morning at the age of 90.

The Taiwan based United Daily News spent large spaces to describe Wang's contributions and comment on the effects that may be rendered by his death.

"After Chen-fu died at the head of this year, Wang passed away because of diseases at the end," it said.

Early this year, Koo, chairman of the Taiwan-based Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF), died on Jan. 3 at the age of 88.

Wang, once served as secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, vice-mayor, and mayor of Shanghai, held the landmark talks with Koo in Singapore in 1993,which was the first high-level talks across the Straits.

In the aspect of cross-Strait relations, the newspaper said, there were some fruits reaped anyway in 2005, but concerns remain.

The Taiwan based Central Daily News said Wang and Koo had opened the door for exchanges and contacts and the channel for consultation and dialogue between the mainland and Taiwan.

In which ways to fill the historical blank will depend on when can the Taiwanese authority can face up to the historical reality of the 1992 Consensus reached by Wang and Koo, it said.

It took the Hong Kong based Ta Kung Pao four full pages to detail Wang's contributions, political achievements and his concrete conditions in his last period of life.

Wen Wei Po, also Hong Kong based, said Wang still cared much about the situation of the cross-Straits relations even when he was dying.

The new-generation leadership of China have embodied many of Wang's ideas into their policies on Taiwan, it commented.

The Macao Daily released a series of articles and photos showcasing how various social circles in Taiwan express their condolences over Wang's death.

Local personages in Taiwan also mourned Wang's death.

Jiao Ren-he, former secretary general of SEF, who had met Wang several times, said, "He was an amiable and respected elder all the way."

According to Jiao, despite their disagreements on cross-Straitsrelations, Wang had given him many directions of long and overall views.

"We people from the two sides should continue to further our efforts perseveringly to help develop the cross-Straits relations," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2005)