Handle Cross-Straits Relations in the Overall Long-Term Interests of the Chinese Nation

Handle Cross-Straits Relations in the Overall Long-Term Interests of the Chinese Nation*

April 10, 2024

People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are members of one Chinese nation. The Chinese nation is a great nation. It has created a long, splendid and unique civilization that is a source of pride for every Chinese. Generations of our ancestors have migrated to Taiwan from the mainland and settled there in the nation’s history of over 5,000 years. We Chinese on both sides of the Straits have united to repel foreign invaders and recover Taiwan. The history of our nation demonstrates that the two sides are indivisible and both sides share the bonds of kinship.

As all compatriots on both sides are Chinese, there is no tangle in perception that cannot be unraveled, no problem that cannot be discussed, and no force that can pull us apart. The Straits cannot sever the bonds between us. The differences in our systems cannot change the fact that we belong to the same country and the same nation. External interference cannot halt the inexorable progress of national reunification. Throughout history, people on both sides of the Straits have always kept to our shared roots, maintained close ties, and supported each other.

The young are the hope of the country and the future of the nation. Only when young people on both sides prosper and maintain close bonds, can the two sides have a bright future. You young people should aspire to greater pride, confidence and assurance in your identity as Chinese, work for the lasting prosperity of the Chinese nation, and carry forward the glory of its history.

Fellow Chinese on both sides of the Straits share the same blood, culture and history. More importantly, we shoulder shared responsibility towards our nation and have common aspirations for the future. We should handle cross-Straits relations in the overall interests and for the long-term development of the Chinese nation.

First, we should safeguard the common homeland of the Chinese nation. For millennia, the Chinese nation and civilization have experienced vicissitudes and adversity, but they have continued without interruption and continued to thrive. The key reason is that the whole nation has always upheld a common belief that our territory is indivisible, our country must not fall into disorder, our nation must not splinter, and our civilization must endure. A strong and unified country is always essential to the wellbeing of all Chinese, including the people in Taiwan. Chinese compatriots on both sides of the Straits should resolutely oppose separatist activities and foreign interference. We should safeguard the shared homeland of the Chinese nation, join hands to advance the bright prospect of peaceful reunification, and ensure that the future of our nation remains firmly in our own hands.

We on both sides have the keen hope that our homeland remains peaceful and our relations are always harmonious as one family. To achieve this, we must promote peaceful cross-Straits relations. The key is to uphold the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, and the essence is to have a shared recognition that both sides belong to the same country and nation. As long as we do not seek to divide the country, and hold that both sides belong to the same Chinese nation and one family, we can absolutely come together to communicate on our domestic affairs. We can foster mutual understanding, build trust, settle disputes, and reach consensus.

Second, we should jointly work for the lasting prosperity of the Chinese nation. The ultimate goal of our efforts in developing cross-Straits relations is to boost the wellbeing of both sides. Lasting prosperity for the Chinese nation is a grand yet simple goal. In essence, it means meeting the aspirations of both sides for a better life, and ensuring that all Chinese, including the people in Taiwan, work together to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. Now that we have shown ourselves capable of leading more than 1.4 billion people on the mainland towards prosperity, we are surely able to create a bright future together with our fellow Chinese in Taiwan.

Always bearing in mind the wellbeing of the people in Taiwan, we will strive to ensure their ready access to the opportunities brought about by Chinese modernization and the benefits of development and progress on the mainland; we will actively help them overcome their difficulties, meet their needs, bring them greater benefits, ensure their wellbeing, and provide them with a better future.

Third, we should foster a stronger sense of the Chinese nation as one community. In the long history of our nation, we Chinese have shaped the territory of our country including Taiwan, created China’s history and culture, and fostered our national spirit. We on both sides of the Straits have always been one family, so we should engage in frequent exchanges, become closer, and forge stronger bonds. We will take more effective measures to promote cross-Straits communication, exchanges and interactions, so that we can open our hearts to each other, build up mutual trust, and forge closer bonds of heart and mind. We on the mainland sincerely invite our fellow Chinese in Taiwan to pay more visits to the mainland, and we are glad to see mainland residents travel more frequently to Taiwan.

The Chinese culture is the spiritual lifeblood of the Chinese nation and provides a common spiritual home for people on both sides of the Straits. Both sides should strengthen confidence in Chinese culture, and become its active guardians, trustees and promoters; we should have a stronger sense of belonging, national identity, and pride, and heighten our sense of the Chinese nation as one community.

Fourth, we should make tireless efforts to realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Through a century of endeavor, we have pioneered a Chinese path to modernization and opened up bright prospects for national rejuvenation. We have succeeded in turning the blueprint drawn by Dr Sun Yat-sen into reality, and then gone on to achieve far more than he ever envisaged. National rejuvenation is an unstoppable process. It carries within it all the hard work and struggle of the people on both sides. It calls for our concerted and unremitting efforts, and it is certain to be realized with our perseverance and endeavors. Young people on both sides have much to accomplish, and will accomplish much. You young people from Taiwan are welcome to pursue and fulfill your dreams on the mainland, and we on the mainland will create better conditions and more opportunities for young people on both sides to grow, excel and succeed. We hope that young people on both sides will learn from each other, stay close, work with one heart, and advance together. We hope that you will carry on the historic cause of national rejuvenation, and devote the power of your youth to this dream.

* Main points of the talk at a meeting with a delegation led by Ma Ying-jeou.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)