Members of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are welcome to visit the mainland in appropriate capacities, a Chinese mainland official said Wednesday.

"The majority of DPP members are different from a very few diehard 'Taiwan independence' proponents. We welcome them to visit the mainland and engage in exchanges in appropriate capacities," said Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

At a routine news conference, Li reiterated the mainland position that "no matter who he is and no matter what he said or did in the past, we are willing to engage in exchanges and contact with him on developing across-Straits relations as long as he accepts the one China principle."

During the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in March, the committee's chairman Jia Qinglin asked several CPPCC members whether they ever contacted extreme "Taiwan independence" personnel during their visits to Taiwan.

Jia expressed approval of contact with them so as to introduce to them the relevant mainland principles and policies and guide them to correctly view and handle issues in across-Straits relations, said the spokesman.

Source: Xinhua