Every festive season, it is time for the wanderers on the other side to go home! (Cross-Strait Observation)

"Dear Taiwan compatriots: Today is New Year's Day in 1979. On behalf of the people of all ethnic groups on the mainland of the motherland, we extend cordial greetings and heartfelt congratulations to all compatriots. There is a saying in the past: 'Think of your relatives every festive season'. On this occasion of celebrating the New Year, we miss our own flesh and blood, our fathers and brothers and sisters in Taiwan. We know that you also miss your relatives in the motherland and on the mainland infinitely. On New Year's Day 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued a "Message to Taiwan Compatriots." At the same time, then-Defense Minister Xu Xiangqian issued a statement announcing that it would stop the PLA's shelling of Kinmen and other islands since 1958.

The "Message to Taiwan Compatriots" was published shortly after the conclusion of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which for the first time solemnly declared the general policy of striving for the peaceful reunification of the motherland, marking that the theory and practice of the CPC and the Chinese Government in resolving the Taiwan issue have entered a new historical period. With the joint efforts of compatriots on both sides of the strait, many important ideas put forward in the "Letter to Taiwan Compatriots" have been realized one after another: cross-strait shipping and postal links, compatriots on both sides of the strait visiting relatives and friends, tourism visits, exchanges in the fields of academic culture and sports, and so on.

Over the past 43 years, the situation in the Taiwan Strait has changed drastically, but what has not changed is the original intention of the two sides of the strait to Chinese safeguard the reunification of the motherland and promote the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue. Since the publication of the "Message to Taiwan Compatriots," the party Central Committee's principles and policies toward Taiwan have not only been in the same vein but also advanced with the times, pushing cross-strait relations forward continuously and peacefully. In September 1981, Ye Jianying, then chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, delivered a speech in which he comprehensively and systematically expounded the nine-point principle of Taiwan's return to the motherland and the realization of peaceful reunification. In January 1982, Deng Xiaoping first proposed the concept of "one country, two systems". In June 1983, Deng Xiaoping further proposed a six-point approach to resolving the Taiwan issue. Since the Eighteenth National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has put forward the policy proposition of consolidating and deepening the peaceful development of cross-strait relations at a new historical starting point. At the beginning of 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the 40th anniversary commemoration of the publication of the "Message to Taiwan Compatriots", putting forward a 5-point proposal on promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and realizing the reunification of the motherland.

Revisiting the "Message to Taiwan Compatriots" today, I still feel that it has extremely strong practical significance. The "Letter to Compatriots in Taiwan" says: "Although there have been many foreign invasions and internal strife in history, none of them have caused our nation to be divided for a long time. The separation of Taiwan from the motherland in the past three decades has been man-made and contrary to the interests and aspirations of our nation, and it must not be continued in this way. "Realizing the reunification of the motherland at an early date is not only the common aspiration of the entire Chinese people, including the Taiwan compatriots, but also the common hope of all peace-loving people and countries in the world." "We should respect the current situation in Taiwan and the opinions of people from all walks of life in Taiwan, adopt reasonable policies and methods, and not cause the people of Taiwan to suffer losses." "We should develop trade with each other, exchange ideas and conduct economic exchanges. This is a mutual need that is beneficial and harmless to either party. "Reunifying the motherland is the sacred mission that history has entrusted to our generation. The times are advancing and the situation is developing. By accomplishing this mission one day sooner, we will be able to jointly create an unprecedented glorious and splendid history in our country, and go hand in hand with all the advanced powers in seeking peace, prosperity and progress in the world. ”

Compatriots on both sides of the strait are Chinese, but a strait has separated the two sides of the strait for more than seventy years. At present, a new round of tension has emerged in the Taiwan Strait, and the crux of the matter lies in the DPP authorities' attempt to "rely on the United States for independence" and the intention of the United States and other Western anti-China forces to "use Taiwan to control China." These perverse acts not only undermine peace in the Taiwan Strait, but also violate the consensus of the international community and the basic norms governing international relations.

More than forty years ago, the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" issued a soul torture question: "If we do not end the current situation of division as soon as possible and realize the reunification of the motherland at an early date, how can we comfort the ancestors?" How can it be self-explanatory for future generations? People have the same heart, the same heart, all the descendants of the Yellow Emperor, who wants to become the sinners of the nation throughout the ages? ”

Today, we also have to question the DPP authorities and the diehards of "Taiwan independence": Where do you want to take Taiwan? Are you willing to be the sinners of history? Why do you comfort the patriarchs?

As General Secretary Xi Jinping said at the 40th anniversary commemoration of the publication of the "Message to Taiwan Compatriots", "History cannot be chosen, it can be grasped now, and the future can be created!" "The reunification of the motherland is the general trend of history and the right way." "Taiwan independence" splittism is a counter-current and a dead end. Chinese matters must be decided by the Chinese, and the Taiwan issue brooks no foreign interference. Realizing reunification by peaceful means is in the best interests of the compatriots on both sides of the strait and the whole nation.

Taiwan is a wanderer who will eventually return home, not a pawn that is being used. On the occasion of the arrival of the new year, we earnestly call out to the Taiwan compatriots on the other side of the Strait: It is time for the wanderers to go home! (Author: Chang Bin)