CHANGSHA, May 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Back on his
native soil after a lapse of 56 years, visiting People First Party (PFP)
Chairman James CY Soong said Sunday "descendants of Cathay must never forget
their roots" and people along the Taiwan Straits should join hands to bring more
glory to the Chinese nation.
"I'm a native from Hunan, a proud Hunanese
fond of eating hot pepper, a dignified Chinese and also a Taiwanese that loves
Taiwan," Soong said upon his arrival at Huanghua Airport in Changsha, capital of
central-south China's Hunan Province, Sunday afternoon.
On
numerous other occasions in the delegation's mainland visit,Soong also
explicitly enunciated his stance against "Taiwan independence", saying that
people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are descendants of "Yandi and Huangdi
emperors", the "dragon" and the "Cathay", and should accomplish the
reunification of their country.
Soong will return to his home Juyu Village in
Xiangtan City Monday morning to perform ancestor worshipping ceremony. In the
afternoon, he will proceed to visit his primary school and meet his cousin in
Xiangtan before returning to Changsha.
In his brief remarks at the airport, Soong
said he personally had poignant feelings at the moment.
"I escorted the coffin of my grandmother
to Hunan 56 years ago,as a little boy. And I haven't returned to see my kinfolk
since, yet I have never stopped missing you," said Soong, in his Hunan dialect.
My
visit to Hunan, he said, is not merely a personal matter, but an important
occasion to express the hope of Taiwan kinsfolk for peace across the Straits and
that "descendants of Cathay should never forget their roots."
"I hope the people on both sides of the
Strait will join hands,link each other heart to heart and work together to bring
more glory to the Chinese nation in the 21st century," said Soong.
Changsha is the forth leg of
Soong's nine-day mainland trip, which has also brought him to Xi'an, Nanjing and
Shanghai. Soong and his delegation are due to visit Beijing before his return to
Taiwan on May 13.