Thousands of people paid their last respects to Wang Daohan,
Chinese mainland's chief negotiator with Taiwan, Friday in Longhua
Funeral Home in Shanghai.
The remains of Wang, who passed away on December 24 in Shanghai
at age 90, were cremated on Friday morning in the funeral home.
Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Chinese Vice-President
Zeng Qinghong attended the funeral, joined by other senior mainland
officials, people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas as
well as ordinary mainland citizens, who formed a long queue outside
the funeral home.
Zeng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau
of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also
conveyed condolences offered by Hu Jintao
and other members of the Standing Committee to Wang's family.
The wife, son and a daughter of Wang's Taiwan counterpart Koo
Chen-fu, who died in January, also went to the funeral. Wang and
Koo had formed a close friendship.
Other personages from Taiwan at the funeral included a
representative of former Chairman of Kuomintang (KMT) Lien Chan,
KMT vice-chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, Secretary-General of the People
First Party Chin Chin-sheng, Chairman of the New Party Yok Mu-ming,
representatives of the Hsin Tungmung Hui, Alliance for the
Reunification of China and Strait Peaceful Re-Unification
Association, Wang's friends of various circles and representatives
of Taiwan businesses on the mainland.
Zeng Qinghong met the personages from Taiwan and representatives
of Taiwan businesses on the mainland before the funeral and
expressed thanks to them.
Wang, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations
Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) since December 1991, held the
landmark talks with Koo Chen-fu, chairman of the Taiwan-based
Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Singapore in April 1993, which
was the first ever high-level, non-governmental talks across the
Straits.
The two men met for the second time in Shanghai in October 1998,
which opened political dialogue between the two sides.
A senior consultant to the Taiwan-based Eastern Multimedia Group
said he had come to "make a bow" to Wang, with whom he talked
twice.
"He was a man that cared a great deal about the country and the
people, a man of vision, a scholar and a man that felt for the
Taiwan people. Such a politician is worthy of the sincerest bow
from me," he said.
Wang, born in Jiashan of east China's Anhui province, once
served as secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, and
vice-mayor and mayor of Shanghai. The first to propose development
of Shanghai's Pudong area, applying to host the World Expo and
building Shanghai into a transport center, he is widely believed to
have contributed a great deal to boosting the prosperity of
Shanghai.
During his illness and after his death, Hu Jintao, Jiang
Zemin,Wu Banguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju,
Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan visited him in hospital or
conveyed condolences over his death.
"Mr. Wang has left us forever, but he has left behind a rich
legacy and unforgettable demeanor," wrote Xu Shiquan,
vice-president of the mainland-based National Taiwan Studies
Society, in an article published on the mainland-based People's
Daily Friday.
"The energy and wisdom he devoted to the development of
cross-Straits relations will surely continue to work in the
historical process of the reunification of China," he wrote.
Huang Renwei, a professor with the Shanghai Academy of Social
Sciences, also paid a high tribute to Wang in an article published
on Guangming Daily Friday.
According to Huang, Wang Daohan realized the importance of
building common ground and a common sense of national identity as
early as in 1994 in view that reunification of the two sides will
be a long-term, zigzagged and gradual process.
Wang emphasized giving high priority to developing cross-Straits
economic and trade relations and boosting two-way visits of people,
according to Huang.
"After Lee Teng-hui began his 'two states' advocacy in 1999 and
the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party came to power in
2000, the cross-Strait situation got very bad," Huang wrote.
Even under such a situation, Wang?still exhibited unusual
soberness and perseverance, according to Huang.
"He repeatedly emphasized the following points: the policy of
winning the support of Taiwan people should not change, the
momentum of economic and trade relations across the Straits should
not change and the fundamental principle of adhering to peaceful
reunification should not change," wrote Huang.
"We now can see how farsighted he was," wrote Huang, adding many
of Wang's strategic thoughts and innovative viewpoints can really
stand the test of both time and practice.
According to Huang, Wang Daohan used to work on his research
reports through midnight despite his serious illness.
After Wang's death, many people, political parties and
organizations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas have sent
condolences or wreaths, all speaking highly of his contribution to
the development of relations across the Taiwan Straits.
Chiao Jen-ho, a former secretary-general of the SEF, said talks
between Wang and Koo helped to increase mutual understanding across
the Taiwan Straits. They have left a lot of valuable experiences
for later generations in continuing to promote the cross-Straits
relations.
'
(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2005)
