James Soong, the leader of Taiwan's second biggest opposition party, was scheduled to lead an 80-strong delegation to China on Thursday for what he billed as a "bridge-building" visit to seek reconciliation with Beijing, reported dpa. "I will lead a delegation to visit mainland China tomorrow for a nine-day visit which we call a 'bridge-building' journey aimed to promote understanding and promote reconciliation," said the head of the pro-unification People First Party (PFP) at a news conference on Wednesday. His visit comes on the heels of Lien Chan, chairman of Taiwan's biggest opposition party, the Nationalist or Kuomintang (KMT), who returned Tuesday from a landmark visit to China where he met President Hu Jintao and gained offers for zero tariffs in 15 Taiwanese fruit products, a pair of pandas and tourism expansion. Soong has the blessing from Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, who has asked the PFP chairman to carry a message to Hu during their meeting scheduled late next week. But Soong was reluctant to confirm that Chen had asked him to give Hu a message, saying vaguely that the message actually is from all 23 million people in Taiwan that they want peace with China. Taiwan and China have been at loggerheads since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949. Relations soured further after Beijing enacted an anti-secession law in March that authorizes the use of force against the island should it move toward independence. --more 1518 Local Time 1218 GMT
