Ma Ying-jeou urges further cross-Strait youth exchanges

Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, called on Wednesday for more youth exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, describing them as "the most important original intention" of his second visit to the Chinese mainland.

Ma, leading a group of 20 young people from Taiwan, made the remarks during their visit to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where the Taiwan delegation and students at the university held a fellowship activity.

Ma shared his observations and thoughts on youth exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait at the university, the first stop for such exchanges during his mainland trip.

He said he had visited three universities during his visit to the mainland last year, and that in July, students from five mainland universities had visited Taiwan in return.

"I felt that the students, being of similar ages, communicated very naturally and warmly," he said." Besides sharing common interests and popular trends, the youths also share the pressures and worries typical of their age.

"Although the time spent together was short, everyone exchanged WeChat contacts and established channels of communication without being prompted.

"Promoting student exchanges between the two sides was the most important initial intention of my trip and also my goal. In the future, there will definitely be a lot of room for effort in cross-Strait youth exchanges."

Ma urged authorities on both sides to "carefully consider, discern and firmly act" to give young people from both sides more opportunities to understand each other.

At the fellowship activity, students from Taiwan and the mainland shared their special connections with the other side, sang songs and played piano and traditional Chinese instruments.

Gao Song, president of Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University, said "the future of cross-Strait relations lies in the youth", adding that in the past decade, the university has admitted nearly 1,000 Taiwan students, mainly concentrated in disciplines such as medicine, economics and management, and computer science.

Over the past three days, Ma and the Taiwan youth group have visited technology companies including drone manufacturer DJI and internet giant Tencent, as well as the high-profile Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

Tang Yi-xiang, a young member of the Taiwan delegation who is studying at Taiwan Ocean University, said: "I was most interested in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the world's most spectacular cross-sea bridge, because my major is river and ocean engineering.

"The bridge not only shortens the distance between the three places but is also a great showcase of the mainland's engineering technology to the world."

The bridge also impressed Wan Yu-ming, a delegation member who is a first-year graduate student at Taiwan's Sun Yat-sen University.

"We can see how the central and local governments coordinate to ensure the quality of the project and guarantee the smooth completion of the enterprise," he said. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to visit the mainland … through this process we got to know each other and saw the development of the mainland."

Before the start of the exchange activity, the 20 Taiwan young people and the Sun Yat-sen University students played games together, introduced themselves to each other, and exchanged gifts.

Hsu Min-shan, a senior student from Taiwan who is studying at the university in Guangzhou, said they gave the students in the Taiwan delegation commemorative bookmarks and an annual membership for IQIYI, the mainland's leading online entertainment video provider.

jiangchenglong@chinadaily.com.cn