The recent bus accident in Taiwan that killed six Chinese tourists from the Chinese mainland should prompt the two sides across the Straits to take measures to ensure tourists' safety when Chinese mainlanders visit the island, according to Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

A bus carrying a business group from Dalian plunged off a mountain road into a deep valley when its brakes failed in central Taiwan on October 2, killing six people and injuring 15.

Li also delivered an update on the three Taiwanese tourists who were seriously injured in a bus accident in northeast China's Jilin Province on September 11. One of them has recovered and is back in Taiwan. The other two remain in hospital in Beijing.

In November, after a Chinese mainland tourism inspection delegation visited the island province, the Chinese mainland authorized the Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association (CSTEA) to negotiate with Taiwan on travel services for Chinese mainlanders.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2006)