A LONG-AWAITED VISIT

Zhang Zhijun （second left， front）， Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council， and Eric Chu （second right， front）， Mayor of New Taipei City of Taiwan， talk with senior citizens at a nursing home in Tucheng District of the city on June 26.

Zhang became the first Taiwan affairs chief from the mainland to visit the island in 65 years. He spent four days on the island， paying visits to New Taipei City， Taichung， Kaohsiung and Changhua County. He held a formal meeting with Wang Yu-chi， Taiwans mainland affairs chief， in the northern county of Taoyuan at the start of his visit. This was the second formal meeting between the mainland and Taiwan chiefs of cross-Straits affairs. Wang visited the mainland in February.