The ruling Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) on Saturday unveiled a quarterly magazine which was created for
the purpose of enhancing understanding of mainland affairs.

Lin Yi-hsiung, publisher of "China Affairs Quarterly," said at
the magazine's inaugural press conference that it is hoped that the
journal will provide a public forum for different viewpoints and
serve as a reference for the DPP to formulate its mainland policy.

For this reason, the DPP invited scholars from Taiwan, mainland
China, and the international community to contribute articles to the
inaugural issue.

The three mainland scholars who contributed were Xu Bodong of
Beijing Union University, who wrote an analysis on the new middle
line espoused by President Chen Shui-bian, Lin Yifu of Beijing
University, who wrote on the development of the mainland's
information technology industry, and Ye Zicheng of Beijing
University, who wrote on the interchanges between (mainland) China
and the United States and their effect on cross-Taiwan Strait
relations.

The DPP also invited Zhang Nianchi, an adviser to Wang Daohan,
mainland China's top negotiator with Taiwan, to write for the
inaugural issue, but Zhang declined because of his tight schedule.

Publisher Lin, who served as former DPP chairman, planned the
"China Affairs Quarterly" after the DPP won the presidential election
on March 18, hoping to strengthen the ideological basis of the party
as well as nurture more talented scholars.

In the future, the quarterly aims to follow the suit of several
think tanks by increasing its exchanges with scholars from mainland
China, the United States, and Europe, Lin said.

Liang Wen-je, deputy director of the DPP's Department of Chinese
Affairs and a major advisor on President Chen's seven-point statement
on cross-strait relations, will serve as the executive editor of the
quarterly, while Chang Wu-yueh, professor of Tamkang University and a
DPP adviser, will serve as one of the members of the editorial staff.

Chang noted that the development of cross-strait relations will
influence Taiwan's future, and mainland policy has to be planned with
a long-term and broad-vision approach, adding that local observations
of cross-strait relations and newspaper comments have focused on
short-term issues.

The inauguration of the quarterly will provide an opportunity for
viewing cross-strait ties from this long-term perspective, said
Chang, adding that the magazine will not only examine the mainland
from Taiwan's angle, but will also look at Taiwan and the mainland
from an international angle, as well as examine Taiwan from the
mainland's point of view.

Jorge Liu, concurrently deputy director-in-chief and director
of mainland China Affairs at the Central News Agency, expressed a
positive attitude about the quarterly, saying that the publication,
which has decided to combine the viewpoints of Taiwan, mainland
China, and the world, has demonstrated a far-sighted approach.

Professor Lee Kuo-hsiung of National Chengchi University said
that the publication of the quarterly represents the importance the
DPP attaches to mainland policy and cross-strait relations.

Lee said the magazine will not only upgrade the level of local
research into mainland affairs, but will also help the mainland
understand the DPP's mainland policy and reverse its bias against the
