KMT official from Taiwan to visit mainland

Hsia Li-yan, a vice-chairman of the Kuomintang political party, will visit the Chinese mainland from Wednesday to Feb 17 and attend cross-Straits exchange activities, the mainland's Taiwan affairs authority said Monday.

"We welcome Hsia's visit," Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in a statement.

On the common political goals of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence", the Communist Party of China is willing to strengthen exchanges with the KMT, consolidate and enhance mutual trust, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, she said.

"We will work together to advance relations between the two parties and cross-Straits relations, safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and improve the interests and well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Straits," Zhu said.