Mainland spokesman calls for cross-Straits efforts to advance process toward peaceful reunification of China

BEIJING - People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should jointly work for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and advance the process toward the peaceful reunification of China, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The one-China principle is the political foundation of cross-Straits relations, said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.

He stressed that realizing China's complete reunification is the shared aspiration of all Chinese people and is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.

Many policies and propositions raised in a Message to Taiwan Compatriots, which was issued 40 years ago, have become a reality, Ma said.

The statement was issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the first day of 1979, proclaiming major policies and principles of the peaceful reunification of China.

The meeting between leaders from across the Taiwan Strait in 2015 was a landmark that consolidated and deepened the political foundation of cross-Strait relations, Ma said.

He called on people on both sides of the Strait to uphold the 1992 Consensus and oppose "Taiwan independence" under current situation.