BEIJING – Taiwan’s opposition leader appealed for a peaceful settlement to tensions between Beijing and Taipei as he arrived in China’s capital Thursday ahead of a meeting with President Hu Jintao in the highest-level contact between the two sides in six decades.

Lien Chan was to meet on Friday with Hu, capping a reconciliation between Taiwan’s Nationalists and China’s communists. The two groups fought a civil war that split China in 1949 but have united in opposition to Taiwanese activists who want formal independence.

The visit comes amid efforts by Beijing to isolate Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, whose party favors independence, by forging ties with parties such as Mr. Lien’s that support eventually uniting Taiwan with the mainland. Beijing has threatened to attack Taiwan if it tries to make its de facto independence permanent.

“We all want to have a peaceful, win-win future through a peaceful resolution and dialogue. It’s the common aspiration for people on both sides of the [Taiwan] strait and a common historic responsibility,” Mr. Lien said at the Beijing Airport, where he was greeted by about 70 schoolchildren chanting “Welcome! Welcome!”

Mr. Hu called Mr. Lien’s visit a “big event” in China-Taiwan relations and said the journey of peace will “definitely achieve a success,” the Chinese government’s Xinhua News Agency reported. Mr. Hu was speaking during an official visit to Manila.

In Washington, a White House spokesman said the United States welcomed contacts like Mr. Lien’s visit but called on Beijing to talk directly to Mr. Chen’s government.

Lien arrived in Beijing from the eastern city of Nanjing, where his eight-day mainland tour began Tuesday. Nanjing was China’s capital when the Nationalists ruled the country before fleeing to Taiwan after losing their war with the communists.

The highest-ranking Chinese official on hand to welcome him was Chen Yunlin, director of the Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office.

Mr. Lien said he hoped to “exchange ideas on the peaceful issues of trade and cultural communication” with Mr. Hu and other Chinese leaders.

Mr. Lien is the most prominent Taiwanese figure to visit the mainland since the two sides split in 1949.

Mr. Lien says he hopes to ease tensions with Beijing, which enacted an anti-secession law in March authorizing military action if Taiwan moves toward formal independence.

Taiwan is a major potential flashpoint in Asia. Though the United States has no official ties with Taiwan, it is the island’s main arms supplier and could be drawn into any conflict.