A forum was held by three leading non-governmental organizations in Beijing on January 31 to mark the fifth anniversary of President Jiang Zemin's important speech on the reunification of the motherland.

The three sponsors were the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League, and the All-China Women's Federation.

At the meeting, heads of the organizations hailed Jiang's speech as an accurate expression of the theory of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" developed by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.

Jiang's Eight-point Proposition on the reunification of the motherland is a show of determination and sincerity of the Communist Party of China and the central government and is in linewith the wishes of the Chinese people.

Over the past five years, trade unions from the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have made breakthroughs in developing their relations, according to Zhang Junjiu, a vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

Zhang challenged Lee Teng-hui's "two-state" remark, claiming that Lee's statement has damaged the basis for developing the cross-straits ties and harmed the interests of the people of Taiwan.

In their speeches, leading officials of the Chinese Communist Youth League and the All-China Women's Federation said that they will continue to increase exchanges between the two sides and play their due role in realizing the reunification and battling against the separatists in Taiwan.