CE seeks to boost cross-Straits exchanges
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Monday said the new special administrative region government would adopt favorable policies and take measures to improve ties with Taiwan, focusing on people-to-people communication between the two regions.
Officiating at a ceremony celebrating the 30th anniversary of cross-Straits relations, Lam said the SAR government would continue to adhere to the Basic Law and central government’s principles and policies on Taiwan.
Reviewing the past 30 years since the start of crossStraits exchanges in 1987, Lam said Hong Kong had been a witness, participant and bridge in the exchange. She also said the city had long served as a major transit hub for people from Taiwan who visited the mainland.
Hong Kong and Taiwan also enjoy frequent and fruitful exchanges in business and trade, Lam noted.
Taiwan is Hong Kong’s fourth-largest trading partner and about 400 Taiwan companies have established branches in the SAR.
The island was also the second-largest source of visitors to Hong Kong last year – behind the mainland.
Tung Chee-hwa, vicechairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the SAR’s first chief executive, also officiated at the event.
Tung noted Hong Kong should continue to faithfully implement the “one country, two systems” principle and set a good example and offer inspiration to peaceful reunification of the country.
Many others at the event, who have played a big part in enhancing cross-Straits ties, also stressed the importance of more extensive folk exchanges. They believe the same blood ties and cultural background would eliminate barriers.
Kao Ping-han, an 80-yearold retired lawyer who is one of those who left the mainland for Taiwan in 1949 with the Kuomintang army, said the key to bringing crossStraits relations to the next level is to organize more talks among people from different sectors.
It is shared love that can bond people who are separated across the Taiwan Straits, Kao said.
During the past two decades, Kao has helped bring ashes of more than 100 people from Taiwan back to their hometowns on the mainland.
Susie Chiang Su-hui, chairwoman of the CS Culture Foundation, a prominent Hong Kong-based organizer of cross-Straits forums, said both the central and local governments should spare no effort in promoting cross-Straits exchanges.
As one of the journalists who followed the first batch of KMT veterans returning to the mainland, Chiang witnessed those teary moments when the veterans saw their long-separated relatives.
“The kinship would never be broken by any force,” Chiang said.
The kinship would never be broken by any force.”
Susie Chiang Su-hui,