Speaking in Xian on the first day of his trip to China, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said that he was moved to finally be able to set foot on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.
"Everyone knows that the Strait between the two shores is only 100-odd kilometers wide, but it is moving for myself and [Chen] Wan-shui [陳萬水, Soong's wife] that it took us more than 50 years to cross the very narrow divide that is the Taiwan Strait," Soong said after arriving in Xian yesterday afternoon.
He was greeted at the airport by Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office director Chen Yunlin (
PHOTO: AP
Speaking at Xian's airport upon arrival, Soong talked of his hopes for the trip and emphasized the "similar interests" shared by citizens of China and Taiwan as "common descendants of Yan Di."
Legend says that Yan Di was the father of Chinese agriculture and one of the first ancestors of the "Chinese people."
"I chose Xian as our first stop in China for two reasons. First, to look for the origin of our bloodline, and second, to build a bridge to the future," Soong said.
All Taiwanese, whether they are Hakka, Mainlander or Hoklo, trace their bloodlines to China, and thus were all Chinese people, he said.
In a play on words, Soong said that he hoped his journey would establish a "fourth direct link" -- a connection between the spirits of all "descendants of Yan Di."
"Many supporters asked me whether or not I would be able to facilitate the establishment of the `three direct links.' I've told them it is more important that I establish the `fourth link,' the link between the spirits on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," Soong said.
After visiting the Huangdi Mausoleum today, Soong is scheduled to fly to Nanjing.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the