Soong stresses his Chinese roots, blood

People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), emphasized his Chinese roots yesterday with a visit to the tomb of one of China's earliest emperors.

Soong on his second day of a bridge-building visit to China.

Soong to pay his respects at the mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor or Huangdi, who along with the Yan Emperor, or Yandi, is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Chinese civilization.

He led a delegation that presented flowers, fruit and incense in a memorial hall, Chinese state TV showed, before addressing a small crowd gathered on the mausoleum steps.

He said that the Chinese ancestors from thousands years ago show today's Chinese people the importance of cherishing the environment and the significance of maintaining the Chinese race and culture.

"Our culture and our bloodlines all come from the same origin," Soong said. "We descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors cannot forget our roots. Brothers on both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait are from one family."

He mentioned "the Republic of China" three times yesterday in his comments on cross-strait relations.

Soong scheduled to fly later yesterday to Nanjing, China's capital under the Nationalists, to visit Sun Yat-sen's (孫中山) tomb.

Before heading to Beijing, he will also stop at family graves in Hunan Province, emphasizing the personal ties between Taiwan and China.

Soong scheduled to meet with China's Vice President Zeng Qinghong (曾慶紅) in Beijing on Wednesday before meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) the following day.

He is scheduled to meet with Wang Daohan (汪道涵), China's top negotiator with Taiwan, in Shanghai today and deliver a speech at Beijing's Tsinghua University on Wednesday.