The leader of Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), on Wednesday urged Chinese president and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao to promise that the two sides would never fight a war, reported dpa.
Wu Poh-hsiung met Hu in the highest-level talks between leaders of the mainland and Taiwan in the 60 years since they split in a civil war.
Hu called the visit a "big event between our two parties," and said sympathy and aid from Taiwan for victims of the devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan province had "moved us deeply."
In a televised meeting before formal talks at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Wu offered Taiwan's help with reconstruction work in Sichuan and said the "love and concern of the Taiwanese people was self-motivated."
"Neither of us can promise that there will be no disasters across the Strait," Wu said. "But both of us can promise that, through our joint efforts, there will never be a war across the Strait."
Hu met Wu in his capacity as the head of China's ruling Communist Party, following the "party to party" protocol of previous meetings between mainland leaders and KMT officials.
The Chinese government's official Xinhua news agency said it was the "first meeting between chiefs of the two parties since positive changes took place in Taiwan," referring to the recent election defeat of the island's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.
During a visit to the southern city of Nanjing on Tuesday, Wu described Taiwan as belonging to the Chinese nation and said the two were "closely tied by blood."
In a major policy shift, Taiwan's new President Ma Ying-jeou has offered to seek peace with China and has asked Beijing to resume the dialogue which began in 1993 but was halted by China in 1995, in retaliation against what it saw as Taiwan's moves towards formal independence.
Wu was expected to discuss Ma's proposal for launching weekend cross-Strait charter flights and opening the door to Chinese tourists, scheduled to start on July 4.