Senior Communist Party of China leader Jia Qinglin yesterday invited Lien Chan, chairman of Taiwan's Kuomintang Party, to travel to the Chinese mainland.
"As Chairman Lien has expressed his intention to visit the mainland, we welcome and invite him to visit at any time he thinks appropriate," said Jia, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, during a meeting with visiting KMT Vice-Chairman Chiang Pin-kung in Beijing.
"In order to develop cross-strait relations, we also invite the chairmen of other political parties in Taiwan who oppose Taiwan independence," said Jia, who is also chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Chiang, who is heading the first KMT delegation to the Chinese mainland since 1949, has been given a red-carpet reception and greeted by massive media coverage since he arrived in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on Monday.
Among other stops, the delegation went to Nanjing to visit the mausoleum of Dr Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the KMT and leader of the revolution against China's last feudal dynasty.
A preliminary agreement reached by the delegation and mainland officials on air flights, agricultural cooperation and other trade issues will play a positive role in developing cross-strait economic ties, Jia said.
Through the concerted efforts of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, new positive factors have emerged that will help "contain secessionist activities," he said. "But the struggle against Taiwan independence forces and their actions remains stark and complex."
There are two possible futures for relations between the mainland and Taiwan, Jia said. One is that Taiwan separatists will continue to push for independence to the point of confrontation. This would lead to "sustained tension and turbulence" perhaps again bringing relations to "the brink of danger," he said.
The other future is that separatist activities will be checked and the relationship will develop in a peaceful manner.
"It is obvious that the first future goes against the interests and will of compatriots across the strait and, therefore, is a dead end, and the second option complies with the interest and expectations of both sides," Jia said. "We should resolutely deter the first option and work on the second."
Jia said the mainland has been working for the resumption of a dialogue with Taiwan on the basis of the one-China principle.
"Since 1949, the fact that both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan belong to one China remains unchanged," Jia said. "This is the status quo, which is not only recognized by us but is also evident in the existing stipulations and documents in Taiwan."
Jia said that a consensus reached in 1992 resulted from both sides' recognition of the one-China principle.
"Whatever it takes to protect the interests of Taiwan compatriots, advance cross-strait ties, maintain peace and promote peaceful reunification of the motherland, we will do our utmost, and we are sure to do it well," he said.