Ambassador Gao spoke on Xinhai Revolution and reunification
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China.org.cn, September 20, 2011
Editor's note: Before leaving her post as the head of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Taxes, Gao Yanping, currently the Chinese ambassador to Isreal, spoke on June 18 at a conference between overseas Chinese scholars to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. Below is a transcript of her speech:
One hundred years ago, China was reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society due to the invasion of imperialist powers from abroad and the oppression of the corrupted Qing Dynasty at home.
In 1911 (the Xinhai Year according to the Chinese calendar), Sun Yat-sen and a large group of patriots launched the Wuchang Uprising that initiated what would eventually be known as the Xinhai Revolution. The revolution opened a new chapter in Chinese history.
Xinhai Revolution ushered in a historical era of rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It overthrew more than 260 years of the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty, ended the 2,000 years of feudal system, and established a bourgeois democratic republic.
After the Xinhai Revolution and the May 4th Movement, the idea of "sovereignty belonging to the people" took deep roots in the hearts of the ordinary people and increased their awareness of political participation.
After the revolution, Sun did not stop his exploration of the democratic revolution. Under the influence of the October Revolution, May 14th Movement and the birth of the Communist Party of China (CPC), he upgraded the old version of the Three Principles of People to the new one and brought about the historic cooperation between the CPC and Kuomintang, sped up China's democratic revolution and made bold attempts in national reconstruction.
Sun devoted his whole life to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the reunification of China. Taiwan's return to the motherland was one of his wishes. In 1894, when he founded the Society for Regenerating China, he vowed to recover Taiwan from Japanese occupation and consolidate the Chinese nation. He ordered revolutionists to set up two branches of the Society for Regenerating China in Taiwan and he went to Taiwan three times to spread the revolutionary ideas to the Taiwan compatriots.
And in 1912 when he took office as the president of the provisional government, he sent a revolutionist, Luo Fuxing, to Taiwan to lead the revolutionary movements and informed the Taiwan compatriots that the government was committed to recovering Taiwan. "Chinese people cannot stand the dismemberment of their nation any longer. We hope to build a united, strong and unshakable nation," Sun said.
Many Taiwan compatriots traveled to the mainland to participate in the great Xinhai Revolution, though Taiwan was still under the rule of Japanese imperialists while some others helped to raise funds for the revolution there.
Inspired by the Xinhai Revolution, Taiwan revolutionaries launched new waves of resistances against Japanese occupation. They organized 12 anti-Japanese uprisings before and after the revolution, which greatly inspired their national enthusiasm and made them realize that the fate of Taiwan was closely connected with the fate of the motherland.
The Taiwan Revolutionary Youth Group issued the Warning to Chinese Compatriots, saying: "Taiwanese people are Chinese people" and "the land of Taiwan is the land of China."
Overseas Chinese made great contributions to the Xinhai Revolution and the national construction after the revolution. Some gave financial support for the revolution and some joined in the revolution and even laid down their lives. Among the famous 72 Huanghuagang martyrs, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the revolution, 31 were overseas Chinese.
Most of Sun's wishes have become true due to the ceaseless efforts made by the Chinese people. And the prospect of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is bright. But reunification is Sun's only wish that has not been fulfilled.
Currently the cross-Straits relationship is very healthy and stable. Both Chinese mainland and Taiwan have further increased their political mutual trust and made new progress in institutional negotiations. Communication channels have been largely expanded and the personnel exchanges and the economic, cultural and educational exchanges have also been raised to a higher level.
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which took effect in September 2010, has been seen as a milestone for realizing the normalization, institutionalization of cross-Straits economic relations. It has played a very significant role in increasing understanding between people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and in promoting the economic development of the mainland and Taiwan and peaceful cross-Straits ties.
(This speech was first published in Chinese and translated by Zhang Ming'ai.)
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