Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a New Year message on Monday that the Chinese mainland will actively promote exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait, safeguard peace and stability, and push ahead with peaceful reunification.
He called on Chinese people around the world to join hands to oppose "Taiwan independence" and work for the ultimate reunification of the Chinese nation.
Hu made the speech at a New Year tea party held by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a top political advisory body composed of various political parties and people from all walks of life.
President Hu said that the mainland's Taiwan policy of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" will not change. In reiterating his four guiding principles regarding cross-Strait relations, Hu said the mainland will strictly adhere to the one-China principle, continue efforts to seek peaceful reunification, always place its hopes on the Taiwan people, and never compromise in the struggle against "Taiwan independence". (Source: Chinanews.cn, Jan 1, 2007),
President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan used his address to reassert Taipei's claim to sovereignty independent of the mainland. In his New Year address, Chen said "the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to its 23 million people, and it absolutely does not belong to the 'People's Republic of China'," according to a press release put out after his remarks. (Source: Reuters, Jan 3, 2007).