Honorary Chairman of Kuomintang (KMT) Lien Chan on Saturday
called on the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong to join hands in
building a new Chinese nation by seeking common ground while
reserving differences.
In a speech delivered at the Chinese University of Hong
Kong, Lien said he was greatly encouraged by changes on the
mainland and Hong Kong's vigor. It'd been decades since he last
visited the two.
"The Chinese nation is confronted with unprecedented
opportunities of development. Well-being and prosperity that the
nation has long aspired to are not a faraway dream," Lien said.
"Chinese intellectuals should take a serious consideration about
what is the biggest 'enemy' to the realization of the new
perspective," Lien said, adding that the top priority is to put
aside minor differences so as to seek common ground.
He called for, on the one hand, a respect for history, and on
the other, a farewell to history. "If we continue to live in the
past and explain the past and present with a pessimistic view of
history, populism will spread and hinder the development of the
entire nation and society," Lien said.
He pointed out that the most practical way is to face squarely
to the reality of closely knitted economic relations among the
mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and make a better complement as
Hong Kong enjoys a sound free-economy system, Taiwan is rich in
human and financial resources and the mainland has a super-sized
market and development potential.
Although his visit to the mainland could be seen to have created
a new opportunity to peace across the Straits, Lien said it could
be ruined if the situation was misjudged.
He hopes that all Chinese intellectuals can shoulder the
responsibility endowed by time and build a broad road to the
future.
"Let's do it better!" Lien concluded his speech with thunderous
applause from the audience.
Before the speech, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of
the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Tung
Chee-hwa held a banquet for Lien and his retinue.
Lien arrived in Hong Kong from Taipei on December 7 and will
return to Taipei on December 11.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2005)
