The two sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same roots in Chinese culture and have no reason for confrontation, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, but added that they would be driven further apart if one side continued to play the aggressor.
Chiang made the remarks at a meeting with Taiwanese expats in Taipei, part of the party’s series of activities marking the 75th anniversary of Taiwan’s Retrocession Day tomorrow.
Yesterday’s commemoration was attended by KMT members, as well as nearly 80 Taiwanese expats returning from the US and Southeast Asian countries.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
In his speech, Chiang said that Oct. 25 was a critical turning point for all Chinese, who in 1945 finally overcame the national disgrace that started with the Opium War in the 1840s, and witnessed the nation’s regeneration.
Taiwanese expats have been the strongest support for the Republic of China (ROC) throughout the years, and have personally taken part in the national revival, he said.
He thanked them for lending their robust support to the ROC during the war with Japan from 1937 to 1945, which mainly took place on the Chinese mainland.
They also played an important role in assisting with the nation’s economic development after the ROC government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, while their investments proved instrumental in fostering the nation’s economic growth, he said.
Taiwan’s liberation from Japanese colonization and return to the ROC’s embrace was the hope of most Taiwanese, a history that embodies the inseparable cord connecting the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Chiang said.
Despite having different political systems, the two sides are nourished by the same Chinese culture and share the same language, Mandarin, he said.
There is no reason for the two sides of the Strait to confront or hate each other, as their fates are interconnected, he added.
Having gone through stratocracy, two world wars, and countless global political and economic storms, the nation continues to stand firm in its 109th year, he said.
Any verbal aggression or military threat by one side would not heal the wound among Chinese who are split apart, but would instead widen the gap, he said, without naming the perpetrator.
“The ROC’s continuous existence is the sole way to eliminate the pro-Taiwan independence movement,” he said.
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