Prolific professor remembered for meeting with Deng

For many in China and the United States, Winston L. Yang was a prolific scholar in Asian studies. But in the final analysis, Yang was a "Chinese compatriot" to be forever remembered for his contributions to relations across the Taiwan Straits, his friends and family have said.

At a memorial service on Tuesday for Yang, who passed away on Aug 17 at age 86, relatives and friends highlighted the meeting between him and former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in June 1983, at which Deng formally unveiled his ideas about "one country, two systems".

Xu Xueyuan, a minister at the Chinese embassy in Washington who attended the service, said that people will always remember Yang as the "witness and supporter of the scientific vision of 'one country, two systems'."