The beginnings of the Kuomintang (KMT)-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Forum can be traced back to 2005. At the time, the now-opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power in Taiwan. That meant that the KMT had fewer opportunities for communicating with officials on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

In April of 2005, the chairman of the KMT at the time -- Lien Chan -- made a high profile visit to China. He met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who was participating in his capacity as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Those talks were hailed as the highest level exchange between the two political parties since Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong met in the Chinese city of Chongqing in August, 1945. The talks paved the way for the KMT-CCP Forum, the first of which was held in April, 2006.

The forum would become an important platform for the two parties to communicate prior to the KMT's return to power in Taiwan in the presidential elections of 2008.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party, on the other hand, has spoken out against the forums and has banned its own officials from attending them.

A total of six KMT-CCP Forums have been held to date. Of note was the forum in December of 2008, which took in Shanghai. The KMT's Chairman at the time -- Wu Poh-hsiung -- met with his CCP counterpart Hu Jintao. The two leaders reached a consensus to begin direct flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen. The meeting also paved the way for resumed communication between Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.

The most recent KMT-CCP Forum took place in July, 2010 in Guangzhou. The forum focused on strengthening cooperation between new industries in Taiwan and China and enhancing competitiveness on both sides. This was the first forum following the signing of a major cross-strait trade pact known as the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The KMT was not represented at the forum by its chairman -- President Ma Ying-jeou. Instead, the president sent an honorary chairman -- Wu Poh-hsiung -- who had previously attended the forum as chairman. Ma sent a message along with Wu to deliver to Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing. The message was composed of 16 characters which expressed Ma's views on the recently signed ECFA. The message read: confront the realities, build up mutual trust, seek common ground and maintain a win-win situation for both sides.