BEIJING, April 14 -- The Cross-Strait Economic and Trade Forum opened on Friday in Beijing following a year of strenuous effort that included many stops and starts and twists and turns.

The forum is a key part in the five common aspirations and prospects reached by Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and then Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan in April last year.

The forum was first scheduled to be held in August and September in Taipei, but was then postponed to October last year.

Then a new date, December 15 to 16, was chosen to allow two months for the mainland participants to make all the required application procedures to visit the island.

That's when the KMT formally invited a sixty-one mainland delegation headed by Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, to visit Taiwan. The KMT then sent the application to the Taiwan authorities.

Compatriots across the Strait and international public opinion believed it was an important opportunity to promote communication between mainland and Taiwan.

Faced with overwhelming public support for the forum, the Taiwan authorities waffled on giving its approval and made numerous contradictory statements, while attempting to take advantage of the situation.

Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian at first flatly denied the application and then tried to trade his approval for permission toallow Wang Jin-Pyng, "President of the Legislative Yuan" to participate in the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) leaders' informal meeting.

Chen then said the event should be discussed by the Taiwan-based Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).

The SEF then twice sent letters to ARATS asking for members from the mainland to visit Taiwan or members from Taiwan to visit the mainland for discussions.

This was not acceptable to the mainland as the Taiwan authorities were attempting to achieve "one country on each side" and resume negotiation between the SEF and the ARATS without accepting the "1992 consensus" -- both sides across the Taiwan Strait accept the "one-China principle", but have their own interpretation of its content.

The "Mainland Affairs Council" under "Executive Yuan" then declared on November 18 it would not approve the visit to Taiwan of the 61-member delegation headed by Chen Yunlin.

The KMT then launched "administrative petition" against the Taiwan authorities. "The Ministry of the Interior" in Taiwan discussed the case and upheld the decision on December 19.

This effectively closed the door to holding the first Cross-Strait Economic and Trade Forum in Taipei. Lien Chan and theKMT all expressed their dissatisfaction with the arbitrary actionsof the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

On March 15, the KMT then suggested the forum be held on the mainland since the activity aims to boost the Taiwan economy, bring prosperity to the people's life and promote the cross-Straitrelations.

The information was actively echoed by the mainland.

Chen Yunlin discussed the proposal with the delegation headed by Lin Feng-cheng, deputy board chairman of the Kuomintang's Policy Foundation on March 22 in Beijing.

They finally decided to hold the forum in Beijing on April 14 and 15. The forum will focus on cross-Strait trade and economic affairs and establishing direct transportation links between the regions.