Former Vice President Annette Lu yesterday called for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to spend more time understanding mainland China instead of focusing on elections, as Taiwan's future will be affected by the developments on the mainland and international communities.

President Ma Ying-jeou said Friday that he is aware of Catholic leaders' longing for world peace and hopes tensions between Taiwan and China could be reduced through reconciliation so as to promote peace in East Asia.

Despite a consensus between Taiwan and China in favor of reciprocal, semi-official offices to handle cross-strait affairs, the government currently does not have a specific time frame for their establishment, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao said yesterday.

The Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會, MAC) yesterday dismissed a proposal by UFO Radio, a local station, that China's first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), should meet with her Taiwanese counterpart, Chow Mei-ching (周美青), saying it would be too sensitive.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday denied a report that DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang sent an aide to Thailand to meet officials from the Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan affairs office.

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng was low-key when asked in Washington, D.C. Tuesday about his planned visit to Taiwan in June, offering little in the way of a concrete itinerary but expressing his hope to learn everything he could about Taiwan.

Taiwan and mainland China will soon officially sign a service sector trade agreement as negotiations on the pact have concluded, officials from both sides confirmed yesterday.

There is no need for panic about having interactions with Chinese tourists amid cases of the new H7N9 flu reported in China, because there is no proof that the virus can be transmitted among humans, an official said yesterday.

Several members of mainland China's Pan-Blue Alliance in eastern Zhejiang province confirmed that they were blocked and interrogated recently by security agents when they paid homage to the tombs of the ancestors of Chiang Kai-shek, a former leader of the Kuomintang (KMT) and president of the Republic of China based in Taipei.

There is currently no basis for political negotiations between Taiwan and China because they have two different political systems, a spokesman for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Tuesday, noting that China is ruled by an authoritarian regime.