Ma said he was glad to see there are more non-Kuomintang participants in the forthcoming 5th Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum scheduled to be held at the central mainland city of Changsha, capital of China's Hunan Province, July 11-12.

The president made the comments when receiving delegates before their departure, including Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung of the Kuomintang Party (KMT) and leaders of the New Party, the People First Party and the non-alliance parliamentary group.

One conspicuous representative was Fan Cheng-chung, a member of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who formerly served as Hsinchu County magistrate and chairman of the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture,

Fan is presently a national policy adviser to the president.

Ma took the occasion to rectify the name of the forum.

He said the public notion that the forum has been a conference between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party is not correct.

The Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum has been co-sponsored by the KMT and the CCP, focusing on a wide range of issues for cooperation, he said.

But participants have never been only limited to members of the two political parties, he emphasized.

For the forthcoming meeting, KMT members actually account for less than one-fourth of the total delegates of over 200 from Taiwan, he said.

Ma suggested the name of "cross-strait forum" to dispel misconceptions.

He said Taipei and Beijing have secured nine important agreements after talks resumed more than one year ago, concerning primarily in economic affairs and transport cooperation.

The president expected this meeting will help hammer out pacts for closer cooperation specifically concerning cultural and educational affairs.

There is still plenty room for cooperation on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, he said.

He suggested that delegates exchange views with their counterparts on the issue of jointly promoting the standard script for the traditional Chinese characters.

Other issues like better protection of intellectual property rights and market entry are also worth discussing, Ma said.

The opposition DPP is unlikely to consider Ma's suggestion. The DPP said it will discipline two party members if they attend the fifth forum co-hosted by the KMT and the CCP.

DPP spokesman Chao Tien-lin said that party members Fan Cheng-chung and Hsu Jung-shu, a former DPP legislator, should not take part in the forum.

Citing a ban imposed the previous day by the party on members who hold or have ever held public office from attending the forum, Chao said violators will be subject to party discipline.

In response to the ban, however, Fan and Hsu both stressed that their plans to attend the meeting remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, DPP legislators Yeh Yin-chin and Huang Wei-che expressed doubt about the legitimacy of the forum, adding that any moves related to China should be carefully and critically examined to ensure they do not hurt Taiwan's stability and national dignity.

The forum was initiated by KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan in 2005 and has been held every year since them.