A WHIRLWIND VISIT Chen Chu, mayor of Taiwan's Kaohsiung City and a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, is surrounded by reporters at a hotel immediately after she arrived in Beijing on May 21 (WANG YU)

Chen Chu, Mayor of Taiwan's port city of Kaohsiung, concluded a four-day trip to Beijing and Shanghai on May 24 that sought to promote her city's hosting of the World Games. Chen, a heavyweight in Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), played down the trip's political implications. But her prominent position as the highest-ranking incumbent DPP official means the trip was still seen as a groundbreaking and promising indicator of improving cross-Straits relations. Her party traditionally opposes Taiwan's closer cooperation and increasing exchanges with the mainland.

Chen's trip was also dramatic because she initially canceled it on May 18 citing concerns over an A/H1N1 outbreak, but on May 20 announced that the visit was back on.

Since Taiwan's leader, Ma Ying-jeou, took office last May, cross-Straits relations have noticeably improved, giving a boost to trade, travel and tourism agreements between the two sides. As another sign of warming relations, Ma said at a May 19 press conference that improving mainland-Taiwan relations and building cross-Straits peace would be a priority for the island in the next few years.

The former Kuomintang (KMT) chairman also said Taiwan lost eight years in developing cross-Straits relations during ex-leader Chen Shui-bian's administration, which is why authorities have put relations back on the right track in his first year in office.

Although Chen warned against perceiving her as a messenger for DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, Chen did tell the media before she boarded the airplane for Beijing that she had reported her mainland trip schedule to Tsai. As the mayor of Kaohsiung, she added, she must worry about the interests of citizens in her municipality.

Xu Bodong, a professor at Beijing Union University, told Fujian-based Voice of the Straits radio station that more and more DPP politicians have come to realize that their party's mainland policy harms people's economic interests and will only lead to a dead end. Some members are even involved in trade and tourism promotion, including Yunlin County Magistrate Su Chi-fen, who visited the mainland last July to promote local fruit.