One of the three major tasks of the Chinese people in the 21st century is to accomplish the reunification of the motherland.

Taiwan has been part of the sacred Chinese territory since ancient times, but at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, a poor and weak China sank into semi-colonialism and semi-feudalism under the invasion of imperialist powers. In the wake of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, launched by Japanese imperialism to annex Korea and invade China, Japan forcibly occupied Taiwan. When the Chinese won the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1945, compatriots across the Taiwan Strait shared the joy of Taiwan's return to the embrace of the motherland. When the PRC was founded in 1949, the world saw a China with complete sovereignty towering in the East again. Regretfully, however, Taiwan was unable to be reunified with the mainland because of the civil war, which was not yet over, and the armed intervention by foreign countries. The Chinese had to continue their struggle for the reunification of the two sides across the Taiwan Strait. From the late 1970s, relations across the Strait, pushed by the principle of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems," made new progress. The long-term absolute separation between the two sides across the Strait came to an end, and personnel exchange and exchanges in other areas reached an unprecedented scale. At the end of the 20th century, China made great achievements in its reform and opening-up drive. Hong Kong and Macao's return to the motherland, which ended a history of Western powers occupying Chinese territory, marked great progress in the process of reunification. Exhilarated by this, Chinese compatriots at home and abroad became even more concerned about the early settlement of the Taiwan issue and the complete reunification of the motherland.

The one China principle serves as the basis for the development of relations across the Strait and the realization of peaceful reunification. People across the Strait should strive together toward the same direction of peaceful reunification and common development. After years of separation, the two sides of the Strait have developed differences in such areas as ideology and social systems. The mainland has given such factors sufficient consideration, and it is the very reason why it has proposed the concept of "one country, two systems." The differences should not become obstacles to peaceful reunification. There is only one China in the world, both the mainland and Taiwan are part of China, and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division. This is the crux of the one China principle, which the two sides across the Taiwan Strait should both observe, and it is a very accommodating principle. The "one China" the mainland has proposed refers to the China including both the mainland and Taiwan. Of course there is a series of issues to be resolved in the process of developing from cross-Strait exchanges to reunification. But as long as the one China principle is accepted, any question is open for discussion. Such an attitude has shown the mainland's sincerity toward peaceful reunification and its respect to the will of Taiwan compatriots. This, instead of benefiting just one side, is in the interests of compatriots on both sides of the Strait.

In 2001, cross-Strait relations were generally unstable with "cold politics but hot economy." During the year, whether to adhere to the one China principle and acknowledge the "1992 consensus" was still the main thread of the cross-Strait relations. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party stubbornly persisted the stand of "Taiwan independence" and refused to acknowledge the one China principle and the "1992 consensus." It adopted the "de facto Taiwan independence" line at all levels and a potential crisis was always present in cross-Strait relations. But non-governmental exchanges in various fields between the two sides of the Strait continued to be active.

Under the circumstances of a sluggish global economy, the growth of trade cross the Strait slowed down to some extent, but generally it still maintained some growth. From January to October, cross-Strait trade volume was US$26.15 billion, up 4.6 percent compared with the same period of the previous year. Of it, imports from the mainland decreased 2.6 percent, while exports to the mainland increased 6.1 percent.

Exchanges between the two sides of the Strait became more frequent. In terms of economic and trade exchanges, more people from Taiwan's business community came to the mainland for inspections, investment and other economic and trade activities; while more mainlanders went to Taiwan for economic, trade, scientific and technological exchanges. During January-November 2001, a total of 1,547 mainland delegations visited Taiwan for economic and trade purposes, involving 8,413 people, an increase of 34.4 percent and 37.9 percent respectively over the same period of the previous year. In terms of cultural exchanges, exchange programs surpassed 350 in 2001, involving more than 4,000 people, setting a historic high.

In addition, personnel contacts across the Strait were also encouraging. During January-November 2001, the number of Taiwan compatriots coming to the mainland via Hong Kong and Macao surpassed 2.7 million, while mainlanders visiting Taiwan totaled 21,904, an increase of 11.78 percent and 74.72 percent year on year. The first Taiwan delegation of "retired high-ranking officers" also visited the mainland, which, as a breakthrough in the cross-Strait personnel exchanges, aroused strong responses on the island.

The mainland will continue to carry out the basic principle of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" and fully implement President Jiang Zemin's eight-point proposal for developing cross-Strait relations and promoting peaceful reunification of the motherland at the present stage. It will continue to promote personnel contacts as well as exchanges and cooperation in economic, cultural and other fields to jointly carry on and develop the excellent traditions of Chinese culture. It will expand exchanges and dialogue with all Taiwan parties and people from all walks of life who agree with the one China principle, thus promoting dialogue and negotiations between the two sides on the basis of the one China principle and creating new conditions for peaceful reunification.

The annual sessions of the Ninth NPC and CPPCC held in March 2002 displayed a firm and confident pursuit of national reunification. This is evident in the speech of the CPC Central Committee General Secretary and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, the exposition in the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Zhu Rongji, and the speeches of many NPC deputies and CPPCC members, together with remarks made by Vice Premier Qian Qichen, State Council Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Wang Zaixi and MOFTEC Vice Minister Wei Jianguo.

The Chinese Government has displayed new confidence in handling cross-Strait relations and promoting national reunification:

In economic and trade terms, both sides of the Strait have joined the WTO. Now both sides face many common development opportunities and challenges, so they should share weal and woe and give each other support. The mainland has proposed, "Political differences should not disturb economic and trade exchanges between the two sides" and "to push cross-Strait economic relations to a new level," the two sides should explore the establishment of economic cooperation mechanism.

In political terms, the mainland has adjusted the statement on the one China principle, "Taiwan is a part of China," to that of "both the mainland and Taiwan are part of China" so the statement can be better accepted by Taiwan compatriots. Meanwhile, it welcomes Democratic Progressive Party members visiting the mainland with proper identity so that they can be distinguished from a handful of "Taiwan independence" hardliners.

In terms of public opinion, thanks to the determination and measures of the mainland for pursuing reunification as well as its strong sense of national responsibility, Chinese all over the world are against "Taiwan independence" and do what they can for China's reunification.

Tang Shubei, member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and Director of the Cross-Strait Relations Research Center, expounded the basic content of the "one country, two systems" formula at the opening ceremony of the cross-Strait forum held March 26, 2002. He said, "After the reunification of the two sides, Taiwan will become a special administrative region with a high degree of autonomy. It will have administrative power, legislative power and judicial power, including the power of final adjudication, together with certain power for handling foreign affairs. It may retain the army. The Central Government will not dispatch army and administrative personnel to be stationed in Taiwan, nor levy taxes on Taiwan. People in Taiwan can assume leading posts in the Central Government and participate in the administration of State affairs."

Tang stated that the application of the "one country, two systems" formula to peaceful reunification not only displays the one China principle, but also gives full consideration to Taiwan's history and current situation. Meanwhile, as Taiwan is different from Hong Kong and Macao in specific matters, more flexible policies can be adopted when resolving the Taiwan issue within the "one country, two systems"framework.