PFP chairman calls for wisdom to break stalemate across Taiwan Straits

Visiting Chairman James CY Soong of the People First Party (PFP) in Taiwan urged all Chinese to use their wisdom to break the current stalemate in cross-Straits relations and join hands to create cross-Straits interdependence and common prosperity Tuesday afternoon in Beijing.

Soong, heading a PFP delegation to tour the mainland starting on May 5, made the above remarks at the aprons of the Beijing Capital International Airport.

"History should be taken as a mirror to prevent the past wrongdoing from happening again," said Soong, cautioning against the entanglement with historical conflicts and the mentality of taking history as a "rope".

The PFP chairman also thanked the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and its General Secretary Hu Jintao for inviting him to visit the mainland and considered the invitation as a move to "demolish the political taboo" that has been clouding the cross-Straits ties for a long time.

Defining the PFP as a Taiwan-born party that loves Taiwan and also possesses strong emotions clinging to the Chinese nation, Soong urged all the Chinese people to endeavor to solve the Taiwan issue "peacefully".

"We cherished very much this opportunity of conducting dialogue with the CPC," said Soong, calling the mainland tour a move to help create a complementary, mutually beneficiary and interdependent cross-Straits relations.

Beijing is the last leg on Soong's nine-day mainland tour, which is scheduled to conclude on Friday.

Hometown Visit

In Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Soong's native town, Soong and his PFP delegation spent 46 "unforgettable hours" and received warm welcome from local officials and Soong's town fellows.

On Monday, Soong paid homage to his ancestors' tombs in Juyu Village of Xiangtan. Then, Soong went to his alma mater, the Shuguang Primary School, where he made donations and left an inscription to express his appreciation of the school he stayed in 1949 as a second-grader. He also met his relatives living on the mainland.

On Tuesday morning, Soong and his delegation toured the Yuelu Academy, one of the oldest higher educational institutions of China in Changsha.

In a brief speech at the academy, Soong said no one could block the trend of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. He pledged to join the people in Taiwan in their concerted efforts with the people on the mainland to reach the goal.

Touched by the crowd standing outside, rain or shine, to welcome him over the past two days, Soong said that his appreciation was "beyond description." More than once, the 63-year-old spoke in local dialect to express his affinity toward the special land.

"I'm a native of Hunan being nurtured by Hunan rice and water from the Xiangjiang River. I also love the landscape and the people in Taiwan. But I am a staunch believer that I am a real Chinese," he said.

In response to Soong's passionate speeches delivered during his stay in Hunan, local Hunanese worded their sentimental attachment to the visiting PFP chairman and people in Taiwan in varied forms.

"We look forward to Chairman Soong's revisit to Hunan and sincerely hope that he can stay here for a longer period of time on the second trip," said Xia Kangsheng, vice secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), while seeing off the PFP delegation at the airport here on Tuesday.

Soong's Hunan-based cousin Liu Manjun, who wept at the meeting with Soong on Monday, said people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to the same big family and more family reunions should be arranged as the cross-Straits ties get ever closer.

A commentary published on a local newspaper hailed the success of Soong's visit to Hunan and said "the mainland compatriots will demonstrate the utmost goodwill and open their arms to the Taiwan compatriots, and contribute to improving cross-Straits relations".

Soong started his mainland tour last Thursday and has already visited the cities of Xi'an, Nanjing, Shanghai and Changsha.