The vice-chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT), the
Nationalist Party of China, visited the Guangzhou Huanghuagang
Martyr Cemetery on Tuesday morning.
Chiang Pin-Kun and his delegation had arrived in
Guangzhou the previous afternoon, marking the KMT's first formal
visit to the mainland since the group fled to Taiwan in 1949.
When Dr Sun Yat-sen, founder of the KMT, led the
Huanghuagang Uprising in Guangzhou to overthrow the rule of the
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in April 1911, 86 of his allies were
slain.
A commemorative park was later constructed to mark
the graves of 72 of those killed in Huanghuagang, in Guangzhou's
Dongshan District.
The time around the traditional Chinese
Qingming Festival, on April 5, is when people visit their
ancestors’ final resting places to pay their respects during what
is commonly known as the "grave sweeping" festival.
Built in 1912, the park covers an area of over
129,000 square meters. On its main gate are four Chinese characters
"Hao Qi Chang Cun," which means imperishable noble spirit.
They were written by Sun, pioneer of the Chinese
revolution and founding father of the republic. He died in 1925 at
the age of 59.
Some of those buried at the cemetery are the famous
revolutionary martyrs Pan Dawei, Deng Zhongyuan, Yang Xianyi, Feng
Ru and Shi Jianru.
In 1986, the park was listed for protection as a
key historical site by the State Council.
Chiang has expressed hope that his visit to the
mainland will ease cross-Strait tensions, as well as promoting
economic ties.
He said he was particularly keen to help farmers in
Taiwan sell more agricultural produce to the vast mainland
market.
Currently, Taiwan's annual agricultural sales to
the mainland are worth around US$300 million while its agricultural
imports from other provinces, municipalities and regions comes to
US$500 million.
Spurred by successful direct charter flights over
Spring Festival, Chiang said he would be discussing the
possibility of providing more charter flights across the Straits
during
traditional festivals and even at weekends to meet growing
demand on both sides.
He said he wanted to negotiate direct cargo
transport links, benefiting Taiwan's investors who have set up
manufacturing facilities on the mainland and who "can waste no time
in getting their products to the mainland’s markets," Chiang
said.
In remarks made on Monday to the governor of Guangdong,
Huang Huahua, Chiang hinted that KMT Chairman Lien Chan also wants
to visit the mainland later this year to discuss possible expansion
of economic ties.
Before leaving Guangzhou for Nanjing, capital of
east China's Jiangsu
Province, Chiang met local representatives of Taiwan investors,
to discuss ways of smoothing business across the straits.
(Chinadaily.com.cn March 30, 2005)
