BEIJING: Ma Ying-jeou, the former chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition party, Kuomintang, will begin his second visit to the Chinese mainland on Monday, accompanied by a group of young people from Taiwan.
Analysts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait said the visit will promote youth exchanges and foster peaceful development.
Ma’s 11-day itinerary includes participating in the Qingming Festival Memorial Ceremony for the Yellow Emperor, who is regarded as the nation’s ancestor, in Shaanxi province, an event that analysts say carries special significance.
The Yellow Emperor holds deep emotional significance for Chinese people around the world, and reverence for ancestors is a traditional Chinese virtue, said Li Peng, head of the Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies at Xiamen University.
Whether it was his return to Hunan province last year to pay respects to his ancestors at his grandfather’s tomb, or his participation in honoring the Yellow Emperor this year, Ma has demonstrated strong and fervent feelings for the Chinese nation, Li said.
His actions also demonstrate that compatriots on both sides of the Strait belong to the Chinese nation, tracing their roots back to the Yellow Emperor, he added, sharply contrasting with the separatist “Taiwan independence” forces on the island.
Last year, Ma, 73, visited the mainland around the time of the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. He led 28 Taiwan students to visit Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Wuhan in Hubei province, Changsha in Hunan, Chongqing, Shanghai and other places over 12 days. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
