HKSAR NPC Members Denounce Annette LuHong Kong members of the National People's Congress April 15 criticized Annette Lu for her comments about Taiwan and Mainland being close neighbors and distant relatives.Hong Kong NPC members said at a seminar that Taiwan has always been part of China and that the people of Hong Kong share the belief that Taiwan should never be allowed to split off. They said that Lu's separatist remark was putting up new barriers in the way of peaceful reunification. Zen Decheng, one member of National People's Congress said: "The success of the One Country Two Systems policy in Hong Kong could serve as a good example of peaceful reunification for the people of Taiwan." Chinese historians also expressed indignation over Lu's remark and said it was ignorant. In Beijing, historians criticized Lu for her comment and said that, in 1895, the Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to Japan and signed the Ma Guan Treaty. At the end of the World War Two, Japan returned the island to China. The Taiwanese have always considered themselves of Chinese nationality. People's University Professor Wang Daocheng said: "The Taiwanese were shocked by the news of the cession to Japan. The wailing was so loud that it reached far away, records say. People on the island and mainland strongly opposed the treaty." International relations scholars also say that Taiwan and the mainland are family members, not distant relatives. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |