The chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Eric Chu spoke on Sunday in Shanghai at the opening of a forum sponsored by his party and the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Chu, who is also mayor of New Taipei City, is in China at the head of a 100-member delegation to the 10th Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum.
In his speech, Chu said it is understandable that there are different voices and opinions in Taiwan when it comes to cross-strait exchanges. But he called for a "positive light" in facing those issues in what he called "an era of cooperation." He said that he hoped that everyone could benefit from the fruits of cross-strait peace.
Chu spoke about the origins of the forum, which dates back to 2005, a time he said, when cross-strait relations were at their lowest ebb during the rule of former President Chen Shui-bian.
Chu said that in the seven years since the KMT returned to power in 2008, Taiwan and China have made a lot of progress.
Chu listed highlights, including the establishment of direct air travel between the two sides, Taiwan's opening up to Chinese tourists, ten rounds of high-level negotiations, and the signing of 21 agreements. Chu said that as the ruling party, the KMT has a responsibility to the people and to the next generation, to continue in those footsteps.
The highlight of Chu's three-day visit to China will be his meeting with Chinese leader and CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping on Monday. It will be the third time a KMT chief has held talks with his CPC counterpart while the KMT is in power in Taiwan. The two previous meetings took place in 2008 and 2009, when Wu Po-hsiung was KMT chairman.