China has decided on to host a string of events next year to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen — a major move to help bridge cross-strait ties with Taiwan.
The decision was taken on Sunday by the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, a day after the historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying Jeou.
A CPPCC statement described Sun Yat-sen as a “great national hero, patriot and pioneer of China’s democratic revolution”.
The state-run tabloid Global Times quoted Lu Cuncheng, an academic focusing on Taiwan as saying that the “scale of the events could be equivalent to those that marked the 70th anniversary of the victory of Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression".
Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Kuomintang pioneered the 1911 revolution, ending the imperial rule of the Qing Dynasty — an event that established a republican government in Nanjing. Analysts say recognition of Sun Yat-sen’s common legacy could become a powerful political symbol binding the two sides.
Xinhua is reporting that during his meeting with Mr. Ma in Singapore, President Xi hoped that the two sides could adhere to the 1992 Consensus, whose core is the acknowledgment that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China. The Chinese President also called for the consolidation of common political foundations, and sticking to the path of peaceful development.
