ZHANG ZHIJUN, the mainland’s top official in charge of Taiwan ties, arrived in Taipei yesterday for a four-day landmark trip that includes meetings with Taiwanese officials to improve bilateral ties.

    Zhang reached Taoyuan in the north and met Wang Yu-chi, Taiwan’s mainland affairs chief, for the second time this year, along with mayors of three other cities, mainly to discuss a controversial trade pact, which has stalled in Taiwanese courts, and to boost mutual investments.

    “My flight from Beijing to Taipei took me less than three hours. But it took us 65 years to make that flight possible,” Zhang said.

    The visit is the first of its kind by a ministerial official from the mainland.

    He added that mutual visits made by himself and Wang within six months and the setting up of a communication mechanism between cross-Strait affairs authorities on both sides of the Taiwan Straits had been deemed “unimaginable” in earlier years.

    In March, Taiwanese protesters had gathered outside parliament to protest against the mainland-Taiwan trade pact, which was signed a year back, but is still not implemented. The Taiwanese Government believes that the pact will bring more jobs to the region and will foster economic development in Taiwan.

    According to the schedule released earlier, Zhang will spend four days on the island, paying visits to New Taipei City, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Changhua County.

    (SD-Agencies)