China treated the Taiwanese opposition leader like a head of state, giving him flowers and the red-carpet treatment as a historic visit got underway Tuesday.
Lien Chan‘s arrival in Nanjing to kick off an eight-day trip was carried on live television.
This is the first visit to China’s mainland by a leader of the National Party since its forces fled to the island of Taiwan after being defeated by Mao Zedong‘s Communist forces in 1949.