Meeting with the 13 newly elected NPC deputies, Li Peng, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said before the reunification of the motherland, Taiwan people will first elect 13 deputies to the NPC and the rest of the quota of deputies according to Taiwan's population will be reserved.

He said he hopes that the 13 deputies representing the 36,000 Taiwan natives living on the Chinese mainland will actively fulfill their duty and make contributions to the building of a well-off China.

The election of the 13 NPC deputies before the reunification of China embodied the considerations and expectations of all Chinese people to have Taiwan compatriots join in the government of the nation like a large family, he said.

He said there was only one China, and both Taiwan and the mainland belong to one China. President Jiang Zemin had elaborated on the policy of "one China, two systems" and China's reunification in the report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which indicated the continuity and stability of the Party's policy on Taiwan, Li said.

He said relations across the Taiwan Straits had continued to develop, and the aspirations for peace, stability and development of Taiwan compatriots grew increasingly stronger, and the opinions and activities of separatists still contradicted mainstream opinion.

"We have confidence in China's peaceful reunification and will spare no efforts in this objective. The reunification of the motherland is sure to be achieved soon through the joint efforts of all the Chinese people," Li said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2003)