About 100 experts on cross-Taiwan Strait relations called for redoubled efforts for accelerating the development of cross-strait relations on Sunday.

The experts, who came from universities and academic institutions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Beijing, focused their attention on political development in Taiwan over the past eight years at a two-day seminar which concluded on Sunday.

The topics of the seminar range from "opportunities and challenges in the cross-strait relations", "the status-quo of Taiwan's political situation and its public opinions", to "reasons behind the failure of the Democratic Progressive Party".

"Cross-Strait relations have changed rapidly lately due to concerted efforts by people across the Strait," said Liu Hong, dean of BUU's Taiwan Research Institute.

He called for efforts to establish direct links in mail, trade, shipping and air services to further boost cross-Strait relations.

Chang Lin-cheng, a political science professor at the Taiwan University, also noted that the year 2008 marked an important phase for cross-Strait relations as the two sides "made breakthroughs in bilateral exchanges."

But he noted there still exist some difficulties and challenges in cross-Strait relations, and both sides should join hands to cope with them.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2008)