Mainland chief of cross-Straits affairs talks with Taiwan mayor

Zhang vows to provide more chances for SMEs

The Chinese mainland's chief of Taiwan affairs met with the New Taipei City mayor and talked with local people on the second day of his landmark visit, aimed at hearing various voices amid warming cross-Straits relations.

Despite scattered protests and an emphasis by Taiwan officials on the "different voices" in Taiwan, analysts say the situation has become much better than it was several years ago, as the majority of people are looking for closer ties between the two sides.

After meeting with Wang Yu-chi, head of the island's Mainland Affairs Council on Wednesday, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office chief Zhang Zhijun sat down with New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu on Thursday, to talk about the city's economic, social and cultural development, according to the China News Service.

Zhang did not avoid talking about problems across the Taiwan Straits.

He said that in the years since the two sides broke apart 65 years ago, the mainland and Taiwan have experienced greater challenges and problems than they are experiencing today. Although there will be more hurdles ahead, the two sides can solve problems by increasing grass-roots exchanges, the Taiwan-based Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Zhang as saying.

While the two sides focus on the role played by big enterprises in cross-Straits trade, they should also strive to provide more chances for small and medium sized companies, which are closer to ordinary people's interests, Zhang said.

Zhang had lunch with elderly people at a nursing home and visited a childcare center in New Taipei City, where he gave giant panda dolls to the children.

As the first ministerial level mainland official to visit Taiwan since 1949, Zhang has been drawing wide attention on the island, as well as protests.

A dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel where Zhang stayed in New Taipei City at around 5 am on Thursday, beating basins and yelling words like "come out and face up," according to a CNA report.

Several other people were arrested in the afternoon after trying to block Zhang from going on his tour to visit ethnic minorities in Wulai.

Chen Chu, mayor of Zhang's next stop Kaohsiung and a prominent figure of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, said Thursday that she would respect any group that expresses different opinions as long as they do it peacefully.

"Kaohsiung government's stance is clear, we will protect freedom of speech," Chen said.

Peng Weixue, an assistant to the director of the Taiwan Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he is not surprised by the protests or that Taiwan politicians are emphasizing the plurality of voices.

But compared with the violent attacks by hundreds of people during mainland non-government representative Chen Yunlin's visit to Taiwan in 2008, the current situation is a huge improvement, Peng told the Global Times.

He said the mainland has become much more confident over the past several years, as cross-Straits relations have become warmer, and Zhang would not be disturbed by the protests of a few people in Taiwan as he had deliberately paid visits to people of all walks of life in order to hear different voices and try to reduce misunderstandings.

The Taiwan public is watching the opposition party's politicians to see whether they will keep their promise that they want to see the two sides' relations develop further, which will affect their chances of winning more votes in the 2016 election, Peng said.