Beijing marks end of Japan rule over Taiwan
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-25 15:12

Beijing on Tuesday marked the 60th anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan in festivities meant to affirm the mainland's claim to the island.

Chinese leaders held an official ceremony in Beijing, while press nationwide called for Taiwan to unite with the mainland.

Beijing insists the island belongs to the mainland. In commemorations marking what it calls "the recovery of Taiwan from Japanese occupation" on Oct. 25, 1945, Beijing has sought to play up the island's historical connection to the mainland.

Jia Qinglin, a member of the Communist Party's Standing Committee, led an official ceremony at the Great Hall of the People — the seat of China's legislature in central Beijing.

Jia delivered a speech titled "Strive for peaceful reunification of the motherland and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," the Xinhua News Agency reported. No details of the speech were immediately released.

The main party newspaper, the People's Daily, declared in a front-page editorial that "Taiwan has never been a country but is instead an inalienable part of the Chinese territory."

It called on Chinese people on both sides to work toward unification.