Exchanges, cooperation among cities across Taiwan Strait welcome: spokesperson

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- On the basis of upholding the 1992 Consensus, City-to-City exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait hold broad prospects, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

An Fengshan, spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the comments at a press conference on the achievements made by a delegation from Taiwan's Kaohsiung City, led by mayor Han Kuo-yu, which visits Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Xiamen from March 22 to 28.

"Much has been accomplished in City-level exchanges and cooperation in the fields of trade, tourism, culture and education. A consensus has been reached to build City-to-City exchange platforms and a long-term exchange mechanism," An said, adding that the exchanges and cooperation with Kaohsiung hold broad prospects.

"We welcome and support more cities across the Strait to enhance interaction on the basis of the 1992 Consensus and learn from each other so that Taiwan compatriots will have more sense of fulfillment and compatriots on both sides will enjoy increased interests and wellbeing," An added.

Speaking of the criticism made by the Democratic Progressive Party and some "Taiwan independence" forces on the ongoing visit, An said that the DPP administration's obstruction and interference in cross-Strait City-level cooperation exposed their true motive to damage Taiwan compatriots' interests and wellbeing for their own ends.