Chairman James CY Soong of the People First Party (PFP) reiterated his party's unwavering stances of opposing "Taiwan Independence" upon his arrival Thursday at Xianyang International Airport of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the first leg of his nine-day visit.

Soong's trip came in the wake of Chairman Lien Chan of Taiwan'slargest opposition party Kuomintang whose landmark mainland tour weeks ago signified the end of 60-year hostility between Kuomintang and China's ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

With 33 seats in Taiwan's "Legislature", PFP plays a crucial role in deciding the political future of Taiwan as both Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang tend to seek its support to get their propositions approved.

Calling himself embarking on "a trip of seeking the same roots of the Chinese people and building a bridge across the Straits forthe future", Soong and his delegation were honored with a red-carpet welcome from both the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Shaanxi local government.

Looking down from the porthole of the China Southern Airlines Flight CZ3011 at the Yellow Loess, the cradle of Chinese civilization, Soong said he couldn't help getting excited when having panoramic view of this special place and meeting his dear folks in Xi'an.

"Although Taiwan is only some 100 kilometers from the Chinese mainland, it took me more than 50 years to stride over the Straits and set foot on the mainland soil," he said.

Apparently touched, Soong said in local dialect, "We are of one family and should of course work together to create our common future."

To underscore PFP's salient character, salmon, the color of itsparty flag, can be found on the costumes of all delegates, either a badge, a tie or a handbag, observers acknowledged.

Soong said it should be the "common aspirations" of all the Chinese to seek the " mutual acquaintance, mutual understanding and mutual reconciliation" and to reach "common consensus, harmonious living and common prosperity."

To materialize these aspirations, however, he called on people across the Straits to keep to three fundamental stances in opposition to "Taiwan Independence", adherence to the "1992 Consensus" and upholding peace.

The previous Kuomintang member, who founded the PFP in 2000, underscored that anyone familiar with the political history of Taiwan knows that the PFP has never swayed on these principles of stance. "In contrast, it has always been working hard and assiduously for cross-Straits reconciliation," he said.

Although many Taiwanese have voiced their concern about the "three direct links" before he left Taiwan, Soong said the most important thing was to have the people on both sides to share the same feeling.

"If you share the same feeling, you share everything," he said.

Soong and his delegation, at the invitation of the CPC Central Committee and its General Secretary Hu Jintao, will also travel to Nanjing, Shanghai, Changsha and Beijing on his May 5-13 trip.