Chairman of Taiwan's ruling party Kuomintang (KMT) said on Wednesday that the upcoming meeting between heads of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) would be beneficial to the island.

Wu Poh-hsiung made the remark at a meeting of the Kuomintang held in Taipei. He said surveys show the majority of Taiwan people support the meeting, while only the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) oppose it.

ARATS President Chen Yunlin will lead a delegation to Taiwan from November 3 to 7 for the first meeting on the island between the two organizations.

Wu said main topics of the upcoming meeting are direct cross-Strait shipping, expanding air transport, direct post service and food safety, which Taiwan needs badly.

The Kuomintang chairman said that if the DPP took violent action, it would only hurt Taiwan.

"The meeting will bring more economic benefits and at the same time will not impair Taiwan's political status," Wu said, stressing the DPP has no sound reason to oppose it.

Wu said the KMT would provide all-out support to help the administration accomplish the meeting in Taipei.

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2008)