Landmark Taiwan trip bolsters Straits links

Mainland's chief official on island affairs given a warm welcome

The mainland's chief Taiwan affairs official began a four-day trip to the island on Wednesday by greeting people in the Minnan dialect, a major local language.

Zhang Zhijun, the first such official to visit the island since 1949, also said: "It took me only three hours to fly from Beijing to Taipei. However, it has taken 65 years for cross-Straits ties to take this step."