Taipei  - In another sign of improved cross-strait ties, China on Monday allowed the second part of the World Buddhism Forum to be held in Taiwan.

After attending the first part of the forum in China, some 500 delegates from about 50 countries and regions flew in five chartered flights Nanjing to Taipei.

The delegates include various countries' Buddhist leaders, monks and nuns as well as scholars.

The Chinese delegation is led by Ye Xiaowen, director of China's State Bureau of Religious Affair. But Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, the controversial Beijing-picked reincarnation of the 10th Panchan Lama who died in 1989, did not come to Taipei.

The Panchan Lama is the second-highest ranking leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. After the 10th Panchan Lama died, China named Qoigyijabu, now 20, as his reincarnation, and put the little Tibetan boy picked by the Dalai Lama under house arrest.

Taiwan-based Tibetans and their supporters plan to hold a sit-in on Wednesday outside the Taipei Arena, site of the forum's closing ceremony, to protest China's occupation of Tibet.

On Sunday, the Taiwan Friends of Tibet group issued a statement to condemn China's declaring March 28 as the "Emancipation Day" for Tibetans, to celebrate 50 years of its occupation of Tibet.

"Since China's invasion in 1959, 1.2 million Tibetans have died and 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed. China claims that Tibetans lived as serfs in the past. The fact is, all Tibetans are serfs today because China has turned Tibet into a huge prison," the statement said.

The Second World Buddhism Forum opened in Wuxi, China, Saturday, with more than 2,000 delegates from about 60 nations attending. The theme of the meeting is "A harmonious world - a synergy of conditions."

China agreed to let Taiwan host the second part of the forum promote cross-strait exchanges which have gained momentum since President Ma Ying-jeou, from the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party, took office on May 20.

The forum will close Wednesday afternoon with a prayer meeting for world peace at the Taipei Arena, attended by the delegates and 20,000 Taiwan Buddhists. (dpa)