CRI听力：Mainland, Taiwan Vow to Boost Peaceful Development Across the Straits

Anchor:
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao met with Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday afternoon. During their meeting, which is widely believed to be the highest-level contact since the two sides split nearly 60 years ago, both sides vowed to jointly work for peaceful development of cross Taiwan Straits relations. CRI's Zheng Chenguang reports.

Reporter:
Hu Jintao expressed a warm welcome to Wu Poh-hsiung and other members of the Kuomintang visiting group, calling the visit a major event in the relations between the two sides. (Www.hxen.net)

He also thanked Taiwan compatriots for their concern, generous donations and assistance to the relief efforts in the wake of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province.

He says the disaster has brought all the Chinese people closer than ever before.

"All the Chinese people, including the Taiwan compatriots, have showed precious love and brotherhood for one another during this time of difficulty. The spiritual power has not only enabled the Chinese people to help each other and conquer difficulties, but has also opened a new page for the people from both sides to forge a splendid future."

Echoing Hu Jintao's remarks, Wu Poh-hsiung said that Taiwan is willing to make a continuous effort to help the reconstruction work in the quake-hit areas.

He says he believes the Chinese mainland and Taiwan can work together to achieve peaceful and stable development between the two sides.(Www.hxen.net)

"Through this time of disaster, we can feel a fresh blood bond rooted in the bottom of our hearts. I believe as long as the two sides care about each other and promote goodwill and interaction, we can foresee the peaceful and stable development of cross-straits ties. No one can ensure that a natural disaster will not happen again, but we can guarantee that there will be no wars between the two sides through our joint efforts."

Following the devasting earthquake struck southewest China, over 2,890 tourists from Taiwan have been evacuated out of the affected areas and returned to Taiwan safely, and rescue and medical workers have been sent from Taiwan to work shoulder to shoulder with their Chinese counterparts in the quake zones.