Taiwan's Lien Chan seeks peace

Lien Chan spent Monday with business leaders in Shanghai

Taiwan's opposition leader has reiterated his call for talks between Beijing and Taipei, as his historic trip to China draws to an end.

"Peace is no longer pie in the sky," Lien Chan told reporters.

He was speaking in Shanghai, where he was meeting business leaders on the last leg of his controversial visit.

Taiwan's president also repeated his own plea made at the weekend for direct talks between his government and the mainland.

"The door for dialogue and negotiation is still open between the two sides," President Chen Shui-bian said during a visit to the Marshall Islands.

But he added that such discussions must be "conducted based on the principles of democracy, peace and parity".

Mr Lien's trip to the mainland marks the first time leaders from Taiwan's Nationalist Party and China's Communist Party have met since the Nationalists lost the civil war and fled to Taiwan in 1949.

Despite some ideological differences, the Chinese are closer to Mr Lien's Nationalist Kuomintang Party than they are to Mr Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

China has so far refused to negotiate with Mr Chen until he signs up to the one-China policy - acknowledging that Taiwan is part of China. This would be political anathema for Mr Chen, says BBC Beijing correspondent Louisa Lim.

Business ties

Mr Lien spent his last full day on the mainland talking to some of the large community of Taiwanese business leaders in Shanghai.

"China is the factory of the world and also a huge market. This is reality, and we have to face it," Mr Lien said.

TAIWAN-CHINA RELATIONS Ruled by separate governments since end of Chinese civil war in 1949 China considers the island part of its territory China has offered a "one country, two systems" solution, like Hong Kong Most people in Taiwan support status quo Text of KMT-Beijing agreement

"We shouldn't ignore it because of ideological differences," he told the French news agency AFP.

"If Taiwan keeps a closed mentality, we are quite likely to suffer serious negative impact."

Mr Lien also reportedly asked Beijing not to hinder Taiwan's efforts at negotiating free-trade agreements with other governments.

China does not want Taiwan to conduct official negotiations with other governments as this could lend it credibility as an independent nation.

"As we make these efforts, we hope the mainland will take a positive and hopeful approach, and encourage us," Mr Lien said, according to the Associated Press.

Historic visit

Mr Lien began his eight-day trip to China in Nanjing, the former Nationalist capital when the party ruled China.

On Friday he met Chinese President Hu Jintao, and the two men signed a statement to promote an end to hostilities.

On Sunday Lien Chan visited his grandmother's grave in Xian

On Sunday Mr Lien visited Xian, his birth city in western China.

Thousands turned up to greet him as he paid his respects at his grandmother's graveside.

Mr Lien is being treated like a head of state during his visit, with lavish receptions everywhere he goes, a sign that Beijing is happy with the momentum created by his visit.

But the visit has provoked mixed reactions in Taiwan.

Mr Lien is expected to be greeted with protests by pro-independence activists when he arrives at Taipei international airport on Tuesday.