No matter how the situation in Taiwan develops, and no matter who takes power on the island, nothing can change the development direction of cross-Strait relations and the process of China's reunification, a senior Taiwan affairs official said.

"The great rejuvenation process of the Chinese nation is irreversible, and China's reunification will surely be accomplished," said Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

He made the remarks while meeting on Tuesday with Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

The patriotic reunification forces in the Taiwan region should firmly uphold their belief in the country's reunification, firmly oppose provocations by the new leader of Taiwan for "independence", and firmly resist the countercurrent of "de-Sinicization", said Song.

Compatriots from the mainland and Taiwan should firmly guard the common homeland of the Chinese nation, actively participate in the great cause of national rejuvenation and work together for the Chinese path to modernization to create the lasting well-being of the Chinese nation, he said.

Hung said that compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family and must firmly oppose "Taiwan independence" and any activity to split the motherland.

Both the mainland and Taiwan should spare no effort to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, safeguard the fundamental interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and create a favorable environment for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, she said.

Hung is leading a Taiwan delegation of scholars, experts and entrepreneurs to visit Guangdong.

Hung and her delegation will attend a cross-Strait forum on exchanges of compatriots from the mainland and Taiwan, which opens in Guangzhou on Wednesday.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Party secretary of Guangdong, Song and Hung will deliver keynote speeches during the opening ceremony.

The Taiwan compatriots will also visit Zhuhai and Foshan, two cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and attend subforums there to conduct deep exchanges with their mainland counterparts and learn more about the rapid development of the motherland, during the two-day seminar.