Annette Lu's mainland visit 'will be good'

By Wang Zhuoqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-11 07:47

A Taiwan-affairs official in the mainland Tuesday said Annette Lu, an outspoken former "vice-president" of the island, will receive a warm welcome if and when she visits the Chinese mainland, more so if she "changed her pro-independence stance".

"It is a good thing if Annette Lu can visit the mainland. And if she could change her pro-independence stance, it would be even better," An Min, the vice-president of the Association for Relation Across the Taiwan Straits, told China Daily.

"I think everybody will be happy if she makes her trip successful," An, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the former vice-minister of commerce, said.

The visit of the veteran member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), if possible, will strengthen the party's understandings of the mainland as it is today, said Sun Shengliang, director of the Economic Studies Center of Institute of Taiwan Studies, under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"For years the party has formulated its cross-Straits policies without really understanding the mainland," Sun said.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have improved dramatically since Ma Ying-jeou won Taiwan's "presidency" last year with a mandate to reduce tensions and strengthen economic ties.

In his government work report to the National People's Congress on Thursday, Premier Wen Jiabao said the mainland will push for accelerated normalization of cross-Straits economic relations, facilitate the signing of the comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA), and gradually establish economic cooperation mechanisms tailored to suit both sides of the Straits.

Reports of Lu's offer to visit the Chinese mainland first appeared in the media in February.

Lu has proposed to visit the mainland in her capacity as director of the Formosa Post, the newspaper she is planning to launch.

She stepped down from her political post last May after serving eight years as the island's No 2 leader.

The Chinese mainland has not extended a formal invitation to Lu.

Lu was quoted as saying by the Taiwan-based China Post that nothing specific has worked out for the visit yet.

She said she would also respect the opinion of the newspaper's board of directors over the issue.

But she stressed that the ruling Kuomintang alone cannot dictate cross-Straits ties, and the opposition also has the responsibility of monitoring and understanding them.

Lu last visited the mainland in 1990 as a tourist.