The visiting Kuomintang (KMT), or the Nationalist Party of China, delegation left Nanjing at 9:30 AM Thursday for Beijing to embark on the second leg of its mainland visit.

The delegation, headed by KMT Chairman Lien Chan, is scheduled to meet with officials of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), hold a working meeting with the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing Thursday.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, will meet the delegation in Beijing Friday. This will be the first meeting between chiefs of the two parties in 60 years.

KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen said the delegation was moved and very much inspired by the warmth of Nanjing people.

"In addition to political wisdom of leaders on both sides, enthusiasm of the people is also important to promoting cross-Straits relations," said the spokesman.

KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung described the Nanjing visit as a nostalgic trip as the delegation paid homage to the Mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen, forerunner of China's Democratic Revolution and founder of the KMT.

He described the coming visit to Beijing as a trip of reconciliation, the visit to Xi'an as a home-coming trip and the trip to Shanghai, China's financial capital and the last leg of the mainland visit, as a trip of hope.

The delegation is expected to meet with Wang Daohan, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). Wang has played an important role in previous cross-Straits talks.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2005)