On February 27, 2005, the Chinese Kuomintang Party held an activity in commemoration of the "February 28,1947 incident"in the central party headquarters. Unlike what it was before, this activity invited for the first time Chen Ming-chung who served as the shock brigade commander of the "Taiwan democratic united force" organized by Hsieh Hsueh-hung in the "February 28 incident", and victim of the White terror in the 1950s to attend and speak at the meeting.

This was followed by the speech entitled "Discarding Hostility, Expecting Conciliation" delivered by Lien Chan, chairman of the Kuomintang Party, in which he said that genuine conciliation was not only conciliation of political party and clan in the Island, it should all the more be conciliation between the two sides of the Straits. The commemorative meeting made a special arrangement for Chen Ming-chung and Lien Chan to jointly hold a "conciliatory key" of symbolic significance.

Two months afterwards, Lien Chan, chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang Party, and James Soong, People First Party chief, led delegations to visit the mainland one after the other. The Lien-Soong mainland visits are of important significance in promoting and expediting cross-Strait conciliation, and boosting and spurring the development of cross-Strait relations.

The Taiwan issue is a product of the Chinese civil war, cross-Strait ties have long been in an antagonistic state. On January 1, 1979, the Chinese mainland published the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan", declaring the establishment of the policy for peaceful reunification, opening the prelude to cross-Strait conciliation and attaining concrete results: Taiwan allowed the public to visit relatives in their hometown, cross-Strait exchanges and personnel contacts developed rapidly, and there were the Wang-Koo talks.

In the middle and late 1990s, however, under the instigation of Lee Teng-hui, the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces became very rampant, incessantly aggravating antagonism between the two sides of the Straits. In 2004 Chen Shui-bian adopted an "urgent independence" line, which not only drove cross-Strait relations to a dangerous verge, but also increasingly sharpened antagonism on the Island.

Notwithstanding, the trend of cross-Strait conciliation remains irresistible. The mainland has become Taiwan's largest destination of investment and the source of maximum trade surplus, the rapid development of cross-Strait economic-trade cooperation has laid an important foundation for defusing antagonism between the two sides of the Straits; the Chinese mainland is experiencing constant development in various fields, its comprehensive strength and international status have gained marked enhancement, the publication of the "Anti-Secessionism Law" has made "Taiwan independence" impossible; Taiwan society has begun to engage in self-examination and put up resistance to antagonism caused by "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. Taiwan society generally asks for conciliation: social conciliation, cross-Strait conciliation and clan conciliation.

Lien-Soong mainland visits conform to the general trend of the development of cross-Strait relations and go with the tide of world peace and development and thus enjoy support from people between the two sides. Exchanges and cooperation between political parties of the two sides have changed the historical state of cross-Strait antagonism, making it possible for the Taiwan people to objectively and correctly understand the status quo of cross-Strait relations, and to objectively and correctly see the development state of the Chinese mainland, thereby gradually disintegrating the social conditions for the divisive forces to incite "Taiwan independence". Exchanges and cooperation between political parties of the two sides show to the Taiwan public a bright road to cross-Strait conciliation, giving them a deeper understanding of the danger and stupidity of the "Taiwan independence" road.

Along with the emergence of the tendency of political reconciliation between the two sides of the Straits, the road to the development of cross-Strait relations is anticipatable, the prospect for peaceful reunification between the two sides is expectable, a bright future for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation to be realized through the joint efforts of the people between the two sides of the Straits is unfolding before us.

Carried on the front page of People's Daily (Overseas Edition) on May 8, this article is translated by People's Daily Online