Xinhua Commentary: Ma Ying-jeou's mainland trip embodies kinship, shared culture

BEIJING -- Former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party Ma Ying-jeou's tour on the mainland has embodied that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are one family bound by blood and share common culture and historical memories.

Over the past 12 days, Ma has led a group of young people from Taiwan to visit memorial sites and cemeteries. Ma also visited the tomb of his grandfather in the county of Xiangtan in Hunan province and honored the family's ancestors at the site.

The students from Taiwan have had communication and exchange activities with their peers at several mainland universities. They also visited factories.

The trip has offered a window for compatriots at home and abroad into the kinship of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, the same ancestry, culture, and historical memories.

It highlights that compatriots across the Taiwan Straits are all Chinese who share natural kinship, and national identity can never be changed by anyone or any force.

History should never be forgotten. The trip is helpful for Taiwan compatriots to understand that the destiny of both sides of the Taiwan Straits is closely linked and inseparable and that the history and facts that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to China can never be altered by anyone.

The mainland's rapid development has deeply impressed Ma and the young people of the visiting group. More exchanges among young people on both sides of the Straits will inject fresh vitality into the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

During the trip, Ma said several times that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to the same Chinese nation and should be committed to revitalizing China.

The Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits working together will certainly create the lasting well-being of the Chinese nation and share the great glory of national rejuvenation.