BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The current visit of Kuomintang (KMT) Vice President Chiang Pin-kung is the first sign of a dialogue between the KMT and the Communist Party of China (CPC), said Chen Yunlin, director of the CPC Central Committee's Taiwan Affairs Office, Wednesday.
Chen threw a welcome banquet in honor of the visiting KMT delegation, which was held at the prestigious Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, in central Beijing.
Chiang's visit, entrusted by KMT President Lien Chan, "has inaugurated the first sign of a dialogue between your Party and our Party," said Chen, who welcomed the KMT delegation in his office .
Chen spoke highly of Chiang's visit for remembering heroes and martyrs at a time when "compatriots across the Straits are longing for common development and prosperity."
Chiang also spoke at the dinner party, saying that the delegation has completed its journey smoothly, thanks to the high-level reception during its tours in Guangzhou and Nanjing.
After the banquet, Chen and officials in charge of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine, and the General Administration of Customs held talks with the KMT delegation on cross-Straits economic and trade issues.
In a related development, Zhu Peikang, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, said, Wednesday, that his Party welcomed the visit of the KMT delegation.
Chiang's visit is an important one which is "focused on the common interests of the people on both sides and the promotion of the cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation," Zhu said. Enditem
KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung is meeting with CPC officials in Beijing.

A delegation of from the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalist Party), is meeting with Communist Party of China (CPC) officials in Beijing today, led by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung.

"We hope the current crisis can be minimized," Chiang said in Beijing. "After the anti-secession law was enacted we saw reactions and protests," he continued, "The Beijing authorities have likely heard it for themselves but we have also brought the voice of the Taiwanese people with us."

===Banquet and meeting===
Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the People's Republic of China, hosted Chiang at a banquet in Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Chen characterized the delegation's visit as opening "party to party dialogue" and that the visit "has inaugurated the first sign of a dialogue between your Party and our Party."

Wednesday evening, Chen met with the delegation to discuss cross-Straits economic ties. Representatives from numerous other Chinese agencies were also present at the meeting, including the Ministries of Agriculture and Commerce, and the General Administration of Civil Aviation. The meeting discussed the possibility of opening up Taiwan to tourists from the mainland.

Zhu Peikang, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the mainland's Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, also welcomed the Nationalist delegation.

Zhu said Chiang's visit was important, and "focused on the common interests of the people on both sides and the promotion of the cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation."

===Visit to Nanjing===
The Nationalists are the main opposition party in Taiwan.
Earlier in the day, Chiang was in Nanjing, to lay a wreath at the tomb of his party's founder, Sun Yat-sen. He also signed a guest book at the former Nationalists presidential office with the line, "Icebreaking journey."

"My heart was filled with limitless excitement and deep emotion," Chiang told the ''Associated Press''. "It was very moving to visit."

Nanjing was the former capital used by the Nationalists before they lost the civil war with the Communists and evacuated to Taiwan in 1949.

===Reaction===
In Taiwan, Joseph Wu, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, condemned the visit by the Nationalist delegation to the mainland.

"The Chinese strategy is always divide and conquer, and the KMT is playing into China's hands," he told ''The New York Times'' and ''International Herald Tribune'' reporters. "It's very odd that they would cooperate with the Communist Party instead of the ruling party here on Taiwan," Wu said.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Ying-mao Kau disclosed that the United States is concerned about the Nationalist visit, and that American officials have privately said that Taiwan's political parties should first unify and build a consensus to strengthen their negotiating position with mainland China.