Wu visits birthplace of KMT

• Source: The Global Times
• [07:35 May 26 2009]
• Comments

By Wang Anna

Wu Poh-hsiung, chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT), arrived in Beijing yesterday morning at the start of his eight-day visit to the mainland, the Beijing-based China News Service reported.

Huo Jianqing (right), curator of the Huguang Guild Hall, presents Wu Poh-hsiung with a mask of the Peking opera character Lord Guan yesterday, during his visit to the theater. Photo: Ren Chenming

His first port of call was the Huguang Guild Hall, a centuries-old Peking opera theater in the city's Xuanwu district that was also the birthplace of his party, the report said.

“This is where Dr Sun Yat-sen founded the KMT in 1912,” Wu told reporters after watching an opera performance at the hall.

“People from both sides of the Taiwan Straits will always respect him, remember his vision of a fair and just world, and work together toward the revitalization of China,” he said.

After watching the opera, Wu and his delegation traveled to the Great Hall of the People yesterday afternoon, where they met with Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, welcomed Wu on his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport yesterday morning.

“The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao will meet Chairman Wu Tuesday … it will be the most important event on this year's cross- Straits agenda,” Wang said.

“My visit will be a chance to review cross-Straits interactions over the past year and exchange ideas in a frank and friendly manner,” Wu said.

Several Taiwan media ran commentary pieces yesterday speculating on the content of the talks between Hu and Wu.

The Taipei-based China Times said that whatever Hu said at the meeting would be indicative of the Chinese mainland's policy toward Taiwan for the coming year.

After Beijing, Wu will travel to Chongqing Municipality ,where he will attend a series of events under the “Taiwan Week” umbrella. The activity has been arranged to promote business links between Taiwan and Chongqing.

He will later visit the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, where he will attend a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of Sun Yat-sen on June 1.