Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan is expected to visit the mainland in the near future, although the timetable has yet to be finalized. 

James Soong, chairman of Taiwan's People First Party, also expressed a wish to visit the mainland.

Between March 28 and April 1, a 34-member delegation of opposition KMT officials, headed by vice chairman Chiang Pin-kung, made the party's first official mainland visit in 56 years.

"This has shown that some of Taiwan's politicians are committed to doing whatever they can to develop cross-Straits relations after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) failed to break the mainland-Taiwan stalemate," said Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

He made the remarks when delivering a speech to military attachés from the 40-plus foreign embassies in Beijing on Friday.

The enactment of the Anti-Secession Law has eased cross-Straits tensions despite the DPP administration's continuing secessionist activities, Zhang said.

He said a series of positive developments have occurred after the law's approval.

More and more Taiwanese people, including politicians and business people, have expressed their understanding of the law while moving to improve bilateral ties, he said.

Zhang emphasized the mainland is willing to talk with any Taiwanese party and organization as long as they uphold the one-China principle that both Taiwan and the mainland belong to one and the same China.

When speaking of cross-Straits economic and cultural exchanges, Zhang said the exchanges are not based on an equal footing. "Cross-Straits trade volume amounted to US$78.3 billion last year, with the island's exports to the mainland hit US$57 billion," he said.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese companies have been allowed to set up more than 20 business representative offices on the mainland.

But the Taiwan authorities have not allowed any mainland enterprises to set up business offices on the island, Zhang said.

As for cross-Straits journalism exchanges, the mainland has approved 11 Taiwanese media agencies to station correspondents on the mainland while only five mainland media organizations are allowed to cover news in Taiwan.

"On April 10, the Taiwan authorities temporarily banned journalists from the Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily from covering news on the island, arousing indignation from people on both sides of the Straits," he said.

In a further development, leading researchers on Friday strongly warned of further secessionist moves from the DPP administration.

Zhou Zhihuai, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said a usual political trick of the DPP is to woo voters by provoking cross-Straits confrontation.

"We should stay on high alert against provocative acts that endanger cross-Straits ties," Zhou said. The election for members of the island's "national assembly" is scheduled for May 14.

Zhou made the warning at a seminar sponsored by China Daily to provide a forum for academic discussion on current events. Six noted researchers on Taiwan studies attended the meeting, which is to become a regular event.

Yin Cunyi, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Tsinghua University, also cautioned that Taiwan authorities may try to block cross-Straits exchanges.

For instance, he said, Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian and his DPP administration are attempting to prevent opposition parties from pushing for closer ties with the mainland. Chen asked Lien Chan to obtain government authorization before embarking on his planned visit to the mainland.

(China Daily April 16, 2005)