Visiting People First Party Chairman James CY Soong reiterated his
anti-secessionist stance in Beijing on Wednesday in an address at
Tsinghua
University that was broadcast live on television.
He called on people on the mainland not to confuse "Taiwan
consciousness"?-- recognizing the people and land of
Taiwan?-- with "Taiwan independence" and said there was nobody
in the world who could hold the Chinese people back from resolving
their own problems peacefully.
Soong said that concerted efforts should be made to build a
common market for common prosperity across the Taiwan Straits.
"Several days ago when I visited Nanjing,
an old local man approached me after going through tight security
to say 'Mr. Soong, we need no warfare'. That demonstrated to me
that people across the Straits have a common aspiration for peace,"
said Soong.
The rise of the Chinese nation was an inevitable trend, he said,
but harmonious living and common prosperity required deepened
mutual understanding on both sides of the Straits.
Soong said that cross-Straits relations have undergone
world-shaking changes over the past month, and "only by putting
people's interests first can we find a solution."
He pledged to promote education exchange across the Straits for
the benefit of Taiwan students studying on the mainland, and said
institutions on both sides should recognize each other's
educational records.
He also hoped Taiwan students would obtain fair job
opportunities after completing their mainland educations and
receive scholarships from the mainland universities.
(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2005)
