On November 19, Taiwan's Kuomintang Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou criticized the island's leader Chen Shui-bian for blocking a visit by Chen Yunlin, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, according to a Taiwan media report.

Ma said he was sorry to see the Taiwan authorities decline Chen's entry application.

To break cross-Straits deadlock, he added, one side must first have a sincere and friendly attitude. Ma also stressed that Taiwan should keep cross-Straits relations moving forward because the relationship between Beijing and Taipei is not the same as it was a decade ago.

"In the long run, I think the deadlocked relationship across the Straits is not doing Taiwan any good," Ma said.

Chen Yunlin was invited by the KMT to attend a high-level forum between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and KMT in mid-December.

Chen Shui-bian said at a campaign rally in Hsinchuang City on Friday night that he would not allow Chen Yunlin to visit Taiwan.

He said that since Beijing did not allow the island's envoy, Wang Jin-pyng, to attend the APEC meeting in South Korea, Chen Yunlin should not even think about setting foot on Taiwan.

Lien Chan, the retired KMT chairman, told Singapore newspaper Lianhe Zaobao that Chen Shui-bian is an "irresponsible person."

Lien said the forum is an unofficial meeting and refusing Chen Yunlin's visit shows that the Taiwan authorities want to "create difficulties" for cross-Straits unofficial exchanges.

This forum will discuss agricultural and financial cooperation and the establishment of three direct links in business, transport and postal services, said Li Weiyi, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office last week.

(China Daily November 21, 2005)