Famous Taiwan writer and cultural figure Li Ao said in Beijing Friday China now enjoys a prosperity unseen after the Han and Tang dynasties, or in more than 1,000 years.

"I've seen the prosperity with my own eyes," he said in a speech in Tsinghua University.

The 70-year-old man, who is also a member of Taiwan's legislature, is on a 10-day "Chinese culture trip" beginning from Sept. 19. This is his first trip back to the Chinese mainland after he left for Taiwan at age 14.

A Chinese civil war in the late 1940s resulted in the downfall of the Kuomintang regime, which retreated to the Chinese island Taiwan along with some people originally living on the mainland, and caused the estrangement between the island and the mainland.

"Since modern times, China has been confronted with two problems: one is how to avoid being bullied and another is how to avoid hunger," Li said to an audience of some 500 Tsinghua teachers and students.

He said over the years, Hong Kong and Macao have been recovered and no one dares to bully China any more. China has truly achieved prosperity and strong military power.

"Only the Communist Party of China is capable of doing this. I say this in Beijing and I also say this in Taipei," he said.

Li, a staunch supporter of China's reunification, shrugged off dangers of "cultural Taiwan independence" and "desinification" efforts promoted by the Taiwan authorities.

Japan had tried to indoctrinate Taiwan residents with Japanese culture for 50 years. But after Taiwan was recovered from the Japanese colonial rule, effects of such education went off with the wind, he said.

"Such forced-in culture won't take root. It will only waste time of children. The clever kids are free from such influence and will take the correct direction by themselves," Li said.

Li is scheduled to make speeches in three universities in Beijing and Shanghai, visit some landmark places and meet his primary school teachers and classmates in this trip.

Returning to the mainland after more than 50 years, Li Ao has noticed the big change over the years.

"When I left Beijing for Tianjin by train on myself more than 50 years ago, all I could see outside the window was grass scorched in war. You can imagine the mood I was in at that time," Li Ao said upon arriving at the Capital Airport in Beijing Monday.

In an interview with Hong Kong's Phoenix cable network, conducted in Beijing, Li recalled his childhood memories of Beijing.

"I remember as a boy, I once saw a farmer walk into the city carrying a shoulder pole. At one end of the pole hanged a basket of vegetables, while at the other end a basket holding his son," he said.

"When he left in the evening, he had sold both the vegetables and his son. I could see the tears in his eyes," said Li.

Li, born in 1935 in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, had spent his first 14 years on the Chinese mainland before leaving for Taiwan in 1949. He lived in Beijing in most of this period.

He said in that time, many Chinese people had difficulty in getting enough to eat. To keep their children from starving, some of the farmers sold their children to urban families.

"China had experienced such poor conditions in the past," said Li. "But the situation now is truly much better. I thank the Communist Party of China."

Days before Li Ao's arrival, the Chinese mainland media started publishing articles about the trip and Li himself, a legendary figure in the eyes of many Chinese readers. Books written by him are available in all major bookstores in Beijing.

Li's mainland trip is also closely watched by media organizations in China and overseas. He is seen as representing another channel of exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The mainland side has pushed actively for closer exchanges across the Taiwan Straits in recent years, determined to complete China's reunification.

This year witnessed friendly exchanges between the Communist Party of China and three political parties in Taiwan, namely the Kuomintang, the People First Party and the New Party, and exchanges in many other sectors.

Source: Xinhua