China's science and technology minister Zhu Lilan (C) applauds with one of Taiwan's leading tycoons,..,...

China's science and technology minister Zhu Lilan (C) applauds with one of Taiwan's leading tycoons, President Enterprises chairman Kao Chin-yen (R), at the start July 15 of a Taipei conference on the future of technological exchanges between Taiwan and China. Zhu arrived on Tuesday for a nine-day unofficial visit, the first to Taiwan by a Beijing cabinet minister in the 49 years since the Nationalist-ruled island became estranged from the communist mainland at the end of a civil war. Beijing and Taipei have no official ties but extensive economic, cultural and educational exchanges have thrived over the past decade.