Mainland's Taiwan affairs chief makes landmark Taiwan visit(3)

EXPERT PRAISE

Relations between the mainland and Taiwan stalled when the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after defeat in a civil war.

Business and personnel exchanges resumed in the late 1980s, and in the early 1990s the two sides started to engage with each other through the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation.

In 2005, Taiwan's then Kuomintang chairman, Lien Chan met with then Communist Party of China chief Hu Jintao in the first talks between leaders of the two parties in six decades.

On this current trip, Zhang is to spend three whole days going deep into grassroots regions across the island to chat with experts, college students, farmers, fishermen, members of minority groups, religious people, business people as well as spouses from the mainland about mainland-Taiwan relations and mainland's policies for the island.

"It shows that the mainland, instead of avoiding problems, seeks to solve them with a sincere attitude," said Chen Xiancai with the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University.

Chen described Zhang's focus on learning Taiwanese people's opinions as "a highlight of the trip."

Zhu Weidong with the Taiwan Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences expressed his hope that the two sides will try to "find a balance within the communication framework based on what each side wants and can do" in order to achieve a breakthrough for a more healthy, stable and sustainable relations.

"As cross-Strait relations have entered a 'deep-water' stage, it's inevitable that various problems will be encountered. But through face-to-face talks and mutual visits, we can boost efficiency, reduce misunderstanding and keep conflicts under control," according to Zhu.

Liu Hong, professor with the Beijing Union University, hailed the trip as "a new step for cross-Strait relations."

Liu especially praised Zhang's focus on the island's grassroots level and its younger generations as the mainland's new method to improve its management of Taiwan affairs.

Zhang is also scheduled to visit New Taipei City, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Changhua County.