In a moment filled with symbolism on her first full day in the country, Cheng laid a wreath at Sun’s mausoleum in the eastern city of Nanjing, also the capital of the KMT-led Republic of China government before it fled to Taiwan in 1949, having lost a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists.
“The core values of Sun Yat-sen’s ideal that ‘all under heaven are equal’ have always been equality, inclusiveness, and unity,” Cheng said, in footage carried live on Taiwanese television channels.
“We should work together to promote reconciliation and unity across the (Taiwan) Strait and create regional prosperity and peace.”
FOUNDER OF REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Sun, who overthrew the last imperial dynasty and founded the Republic of China in 1912, died of cancer in 1925.
He is still officially venerated in Taiwan as the founder of the Republic of China, but also in China by the Communist Party as a Chinese national hero. Mao declared him the “great revolutionary forerunner”.
Cheng said the KMT had eventually honoured Sun’s founding principles and made Taiwan into a free and democratic society, though she also mentioned the “white terror” of the 38 years of martial law the island lived under until 1987.
“Likewise, on the mainland, we have also seen and witnessed progress and development that exceeded everyone’s expectations and imagination,” she added.
While Taiwan is a multi-party democracy, China’s communist party brooks no dissent to its rule.
Security was tight for her visit.
“I think this is very important for peaceful exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” said student Yang Zihang, 19, who came with his classmate to see Cheng’s motorcade.
China refuses to speak to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a “separatist”. Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
Neither government formally recognises the other.
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