Top political adviser urges cooperation

Meeting with Taiwan delegation builds consensus on national reunification

Top political adviser Wang Yang called on people across the Taiwan Straits to work together to promote national reunification, when he met the chairman of Taiwan's New Party Yok Mu-ming, in Beijing on Wednesday.

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks while meeting with a Taiwan delegation led by Yok.

He praised Yok for his clear-cut adherence to the one-China principle, resolute opposition to "Taiwan independence" and active pursuit of national reunification over the years.

"The pursuit of national reunification is of the national interest, and it is the responsibility of every Chinese on both sides," he said, adding that, "The more complex and severe the situation in the Taiwan Straits becomes, and the more obstacles we encounter on the way forward, the more we should highlight the value of such a deed."

Wang said that on the political basis of adhering to the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, and of opposing "Taiwan independence", the mainland is ready to conduct dialogues with parties, organizations and individuals in Taiwan to build consensus on peaceful reunification.

"We will actively work to implement the consensus reached during the consultations and deepen cross-Straits exchanges and integrated development," he said.

"We will support young people from Taiwan to come to the mainland to study and work, so that more Taiwan compatriots can see and participate in the mainland's development, and enhance their sense of identity and participation in national rejuvenation," Wang added.

Yok said, "Both sides of the Straits have always belonged to one China. We hope that the two sides can work together to promote mutual understanding, and enhance the recognition and responsibility of pursuing a peaceful reunification."

A symposium was held on Wednesday morning by the mainland-based Cross-Straits Relations Research Center and the Taiwan-based Study Club of New China Youth, which proposed to work together for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and to promote cross-Straits integration.

About 110 people from the two sides attended the meeting, including Liu Jieyi, head of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Participants issued a joint proposal denouncing "Taiwan independence" and pledging to work together for peaceful reunification, rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, deeper cross-Straits integration, closer exchanges between young people on the two sides and the promotion of traditional Chinese culture.

From Friday to Thursday, Yok is leading a delegation from various circles in Taiwan to visit the mainland. Before arriving in Beijing, they visited Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, as well as Shanghai. He met with the heads of those places and also talked with businessmen and students from Taiwan.

Yok, who in 2003 became chairman of the Taiwan-based New Party, a pro-unification party on the island, has visited the mainland several times.

The visit is the second Taiwan delegation this year to hold talks with mainland officials in Beijing on cross-Straits relations and national rejuvenation after Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairwoman of the Kuomintang party, led a delegation to Beijing early in May.

Cross-Straits relations have faced challenges because the Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party in Taiwan, has refused to recognize the one-China principle since it came to power in 2016, leading to a suspension of official communications between the mainland and the island.