The Taiwan Strait continues to narrow. Last week witnessed the highest-level contacts between Taiwan and mainland China since the 1949 civil war. The visit of Mr. Chen Yunlin to Taipei continues the bridge-building between the two sides and is a step forward in the eyes of all who seek peace and stability in the region. Remarkably, though, significant numbers of Taiwanese oppose reconciliation; their bitter opposition to talks with China is a troubling sign for cross-strait relations and Taiwan's own politics.

Mr. Chen heads the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, the semi-official body in Beijing that manages relations with Taipei; its Taiwanese counterpart is the Straits Exchange Foundation. The status of the two organizations attests to the protocol that bedevils discussions between Taiwan and China. They cannot be official institutions because that would acknowledge the involvement of two equal governments, a concept anathema to Chinese who insist that Taiwan is a mere province that has been temporarily separated from the mainland. Thus the fiction of "unofficial" talks.

This visit was unthinkable a year ago. At that time, Mr. Chen Shui-bian was president of Taiwan and leader of the independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party. Beijing refused to have anything to do with him for fear of legitimizing him, his party and their agenda. The victory of Mr. Ma Ying-jeou in presidential elections earlier this year shifted the cross-strait dynamic. Mr. Ma is a member of the Kuomintang, which has a more moderate agenda and seeks a stable relationship with China. Mr. Ma took office pledging to rejuvenate the sputtering Taiwanese economy, rebuild relations with the United States, which had suffered during Mr. Chen's time in office, and stabilize relations with China, primarily to help boost the economy.