BEIJING: The Chinese mainland will welcome Ma Ying-jeou, the former leader of Taiwan, who will visit the mainland on March 27 to worship his ancestors and lead young Taiwan students to strengthen exchanges, a mainland spokesman said.
“It’s a Chinese tradition to pay careful attention to ancestor worship, and it’s also the common custom of the compatriots on both sides across the Taiwan Straits to do such things on Qingming, or Tomb Sweeping Day”, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in a brief news release.
More exchanges and communications between the young people from across the Straits would “add fresh strength and vitality” to the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, he said.
“We are willing to provide necessary assistance for Mr Ma’s visit and wish him all the best during his trip,” said the spokesman.
According to the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, Ma’s journey to the mainland will last 12 days from March 27 to April 7, during which he will visit Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai. Hsiao Hsu-tsen, the director of Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, said in a news conference on Monday that a group of young students will also attend the trip and visit the historical relics of the Revolution of 1911 and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
