XIAMEN: China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin invited more people from Taiwan, including those from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), to come to the mainland for "broad-based" exchanges and cooperation across the Straits yesterday, as nearly 10,000 people from both sides gathered in Xiamen.
The first folk forum, designed to create an unofficial platform for people to communicate across the Straits, drew more than 8,000 guests from 25 of Taiwan's cities and towns to the coastal city in Fujian province.
Hsu Hsin-liang, former chairman of the DPP, who attended the forum in a personal capacity, told China Daily he supports "100 percent" DPP members coming to promote the cross-Straits relationship.
"The DPP should not sit on the sidelines," he said.
"Actually the development of the cross-Straits relations will not harm Taiwan, and is winning more and more people's support. If the DPP does not contribute to cross-Straits communication, it will be marginalized on the island and won't get into power," Hsu said.
