Taiwan's leader-elect Ma Ying-jeou said on Saturday that he considered the speech CPC leader Hu Jintao made while meeting with Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the Kuomintang Party (KMT), an important guideline to turning a new page for the cross-Strait relations, according to Taiwan media.

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on April 29 proposed that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should "build mutual trust, lay aside disputes, seek consensus and shelve differences, and create a win-win situation" to bring concrete benefits to compatriots on both sides, secure peace in the Taiwan Strait and promote peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Ma said reconciliation between the mainland and Taiwan was a path that must be taken.

He added that as long as the two sides conduct more exchanges and understand each other more, ill will between the two would be automatically eased.

Ma promised he would "do his best" to help the realization of the weekend cross-Strait charter flights in July and the opening of the island to mainland residents coming for sightseeing tour.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2008)