Shared ancestry forges Straits ties

Xiamen and Taiwan may be separated by the Taiwan Straits, but civic and governmental communications, in terms of culture, sports and education, are forging strong links between the two.

The people of Xiamen and Taiwan share a common ancestry. Among the 23 million Taiwanese on the island, 80 percent can trace their forefathers back to Fujian province, Xiamen included. Every year many Taiwanese return to the mainland to meet their relatives and honor their ancestors.

At present, there are nearly 10,000 Taiwanese people working and living in Xiamen. Residents from the Jinmen county of Taiwan have purchased around 10,000 apartments in the city. In Xiamen's universities, high schools and primary schools, more than 1,300 students are from Taiwan.

In order to celebrate those Taiwanese individuals who have made a remarkable contribution to Xiamen's economy and society, the city made four Taiwanese Citizens of Honor awards on Oct 28. Since the Citizens of Honor program was established in 1996, 35 Taiwanese have received the title, accounting for 23.5 percent of the total.

During the 5th Cross-straits Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum held in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan province, from July 11 to 12, the mainland and Taiwan reached 29 agreements, with some 17 of them concerning cultural exchange between the two.

During recent months, Xiamen has held a series of activities in line with the agreements reached during the forum.

The city held the Second Cross-straits Cultural Industries Fair between Oct 28 and Nov 1 this year. The fair featured 1,146 exhibition stands, among which were 385 from Taiwan. Around 1,000 businesses from the mainland and the island showcased their products and services at the event, including the making of cartoons and films, PC games, TV, traditional arts and so on.

During the fair, 82 agreements were reached with a total contract value of 8.7 billion yuan, a 47.46 percent increase over the previous year.

Besides exhibitions and sales, the fair also staged performances and singing competitions, altogether attracting more than 300,000 visitors. In addition, forums were held to discuss future cooperation in the cultural industries between the mainland and Taiwan.

According to Zhao Shaohua, vice-minister of culture, cultural industry participants on both sides of the Straits should work together to develop Chinese culture and increase its profile on the global stage.

The city also held the Fifth Cross-Straits Book Fair from Oct 30 to Nov 1. Around 400 mainland-publishing firms presented 375,000 books from 150,000 categories, whilst 210 publishing firms from Taiwan showcased 90,000 books from 30,000 categories, including fiction, history, law, medicine and tourism.

Sales during the three-day fair exceeded the 40 million yuan mark, among which sales of Taiwanese books accounted for six million yuan.

On Aug 15, 100 participants - 50 from the Chinese mainland and 50 from Taiwan - swam across the Straits between Xiamen and Taiwan's Jinmen. This was the first sports event of its kind that the two parties have ever held and was a bid to strengthen mutual understanding.

On the educational front, Xiamen University will continue to enroll postgraduate students from Taiwan in 2010. The university started to enroll Taiwanese students in 2003. So far more than 400 students from Taiwan have studied in the university.

As early as in 2004, Xiamen University and the National Chengchi University in Taiwan exchanged teachers and students. For the first time, the credit mainland students received in the Taiwan university was recognized by mainland universities and vice versa.

(China Daily 11/16/2009 page7)