Zambian Vice President Lupando Mwapeon Tuesday reassured Zambian resident Chinese of his country's full support for the peaceful reunification of China.

 

Mwape said Zambia believed that the major economic success China had achieved during the past two decades would be further strengthened under a reunited China.

 

The vice president made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy minister, Catherine Namugala, during the launch of the Zambia Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification of China (ZCPPNRC).

 

The founding of the ZCPPNRC added a new member to the expanding group of reunification promotion councils in nearly 30 African countries which comprise tens of thousands of peace-loving Chinese.

 

Mwape said Zambia valued peace and would like to see a peaceful global community, hence the importance of the reunification of China in a "peaceful manner."

 

"China needs peace, Zambia needs peace, and the world, too, needs peace," the vice president concluded.

 

Hundreds of Chinese working or living in Zambia gathered in Lusaka on Tuesday to voice their demands for the peaceful reunification of China.

 

Officially inaugurating the ZCPPNRC, a non-governmental organization initiated by Chinese in Zambia, ZCPPNRC President Roger Lee said Taiwan had been part of China from ancient times and that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits were from the same roots.

 

However, the Taiwan authorities under Chen Shui-bien had been hysterically pushing for the secession of the island from China, a move condemned by both the Chinese government and the international community, Lee said.

 

In February, Chen announced ceasing of both the function of the National Unification Council and the application of the National Unification Guidelines, in total disregard of the strong opposition of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

 

The move, Lee said, not only jeopardized the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region but also rejected the aspirations of all Chinese, both at home and abroad who seek the reunification of China.

 

"It is therefore the duty of us, the Chinese in Zambia, to establish this council in Zambia and join the other councils around the world to carry out and support the one-China principle in line with the policy of the Chinese government," Lee said.

 

"Taiwan being part of China is an irreversible and undeniable fact," he stressed.

 

Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Baodong hailed the inauguration of the ZCPPNRC.

 

"The Chinese government stands ready to seek a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue with maximum sincerity and greatest efforts, but it will never tolerate any separatist activities of Taiwan independence by any means," said the Chinese ambassador.

 

Li said the founding of the ZCPPNRC fully demonstrated that the realization of national reunification was the common desire of the Chinese people all over the world, including the Taiwanese compatriots.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2006)