Students across Straits remember Sun Yat-sen

By Chen Boyuan
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, July 25, 2016
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Around 40 university students from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan gathered in Beijing on Saturday, July 23, 2016 to commemorate the 150th year since the birth of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of China's democratic revolution.

Students from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan hold a roundtable discussion on the spirit of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and cross-Straits development on July 23, 2016 in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

Students from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan hold a roundtable discussion on the spirit of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and cross-Straits development on July 23, 2016 in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

Dr. Sun Yat-sen, also known as Sun Zhongshan and Sun Wen, led the Xinhai Revolution (1911) to overthrow the last feudalist emperor in China and later founded the Republic of China.

The commemoration was part of a cross-Straits summer camp exchange organized by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), named after Sun's wife, who was the honorary president of the People's Republic of China.

Students from both the mainland and Taiwan noted that the name Sun Yat-sen has long been part of their life. However, Chen Qi from the National Taipei University said that ordinary people would hardly associate places like Zhongshan Road or Zhongshan Park, which are found in many cities, as well as Zhongshan City with Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

However, this familiarity may be where oblivion blossoms. The students all said that they do not really know about Sun Yat-sen's life beyond the knowledge they learned in middle school history class; only several of them whose major was history said they had a chance to dig deeper. Even so, they all believed the nation has in its blood Sun's spirit and his advocacy of democracy and republic.

People from across the Straits are bound by this shared recognition of Sun's spirit and recognition of being Chinese, among other things. The cross-Straits shared pursuit for unity, peace and cooperation seems more necessary these days as Tsai Ing-wen becomes Taiwan's new leader and the arbitration on the South China Sea disrupted the tranquility of China's southernmost territory.

"The two sides of the Straits must realize that only an adherence to peace and cooperation can bring good results. Taiwan cannot have a good future without the mainland and vice versa," said Zheng Zhenqing, an associate professor of Taiwan studies at Tsinghua University.

He said that many differences, including those found among young people, exist between the mainland and Taiwan, but that was quite normal since the two sides across the Straits have followed very different development paths for more than six decades.

The summer camp organized by the CSCLF was a chance for students from both sides to visit each other and find a common ground, share common ideas, common feelings and a common patriotism for China.

These students flew to Taipei on Sunday to start the second leg of their summer camp where they plan to visit the National Dr. SunYat-sen Memorial Hall and the Taipei Palace Museum.

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