Just days after the historic meeting between the mainland's and Taiwan's chief overseers of cross-Straits ties, Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the Taiwan-based Kuomintang, arrived in Beijing with a group of Taiwan dignitaries.

In spite of the unofficial nature of this trip, Lien's 15th to the mainland, Lien and his entourage have received what only the most favored guests could have anticipated - a meeting with Party General Secretary Xi Jinping.

Which is appropriate, as the well-venerated Lien is a key pusher and driver of cross-Straits rapport, while Xi, through his work in Fujian province, which is a strip of water away from Taiwan, has unusual personal experience of cross-Straits affairs. More importantly, they were discussing things all people of Chinese origin should consider domestic. In Xi's words, people on both sides of the Straits are "born blood relatives".