The chairman of Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) party
said on Tuesday would make party-to-party official exchanges with
the Communist Party of China (CPC) from the end of August.
According to sources from Taipei, Lien Chien told a
press conference that the first phase of exchanges will be
conducted between six cities and counties on each Taiwan and the
mainland.
Each location will select up to 30 officials to
join visiting delegations, which will include non-KMT members
concerned with development across the Taiwan Straits, said
Lien.
The second phase will be among 10 cities and
counties and the third phase will include Taipei and Kaohsiung,
according to Lien.
The Taiwan and mainland exchange pairs will be:
Keelung and Ningbo, Hsinchu and Suzhou, Taichung and Xiamen,
Changhua and Qingdao, Tainan and Shenzhen, Kaohsiung and
Fuzhou.
Lien expressed hope that the exchanges will not
only mean increased communication, opinion-sharing and friendship
among party officials, but also boost cultural and trade ties
across the Straits.
Lien signed a joint press communiqué with CPC
chairman Hu Jintao on his visit to the mainland in late April and
early May, saying that the KMT and CPC would establish a platform
for regular exchanges between the two parties, including mutual
visits of party officials at various levels.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2005)