Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung answers questions in a news conference held in Beijing, on May 28, 2008.(Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The Mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) will resume talks as soon as possible, Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung told a press conference here on Wednesday.

    Wu made the remarks after he met General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

    Cross-Strait relations have been tense and even stepped backwards in the past, Wu told the press conference. The two sides should make good use of new opportunities under the new situation to make continuous efforts on the right track, he said.

    He said the two sides across the Taiwan Strait have reached a consensus to build mutual trust and set aside disputes that cannot be settled in the near future.

    Disputes should not stand in the way of the well-being of people across the Strait, Wu said.

    According to Wu, the meeting between the CPC and KMT leaders resulted in the common understanding that institutionalized cross-Strait talks and negotiations should resume as soon as possible, with weekend charter flights and mainland tourists' travel to Taiwan as their initial focus.

    He said he is optimistic that the above issues will be settled as long as both sides work together to address them.