Since 1987, the mainland has seen altogether 32 million visits by Taiwan residents but Taiwan has only seen 960,000 visits by mainland residents. The personnel exchange across the Straits is ill balanced. This is chiefly caused by Taiwan's unopened tourism market to the mainland and various restrictions imposed by the Taiwan authority on cross-Straits exchanges, a person in charge from the Department of Exchange, Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council told reporter Tuesday.

Statistics show that from January to June 2004, there were 1,696,735 visits from Taiwan to the mainland, a growth of 61.78 percent over the same period of the previous year, and 70,818 visits from the mainland to Taiwan, a growth of 28.3 percent (including 10,093 visits for exchange programs, rising 15.6 percent).

The personnel exchange had been much affected by the sudden breakout of SARS, but it resumed rapidly during the first half of this year, almost reaching the same level as in 2002.

The Chinese mainland consistently stands for strengthening non-governmental communication and exchange across the Taiwan Straits, the person in charge said. Years of separation has created among Taiwan compatriots various kinds of misunderstanding and a certain sense of estrangement with the mainland. For more than a decade, Taiwan leaders, in particular, have been creating opposition between the Straits by refusing to recognize "One China" policy and instead pushing "one country on each side" and "dezincification" in the island. The stubborn "independence" stance of the Taiwan authority has seriously hampered normal exchanges between the two sides.

People across the Straits are kith and kin, the official said. The mainland will continue to actively push forward non-governmental exchanges with Taiwan, and at the same time we call on the Taiwan authority to remove all kinds of artificial barriers so as to attain normal, sound exchanges. We believe that by efforts of both sides the cross-Straits communication and exchange will be drawn closer.

By People's Daily Online