Shijiazhuang, 16 Dec (China News Service) Title: (40 Years of Reform and Opening Up, Cross-Strait Relations) Three Generations on the Mainland: From "Not Catching Up" to Taking the Initiative
China News Service reporter Chen Lin
The first time Lin Wenqing went to Taiwan was to accompany his father back to his hometown to visit relatives. It was the 1990s. She was 47 and her father was 76.
She was impressed by the "special expenses of transportation". First took the train to Guangzhou, then took the car to Shenzhen, and then went to Hong Kong to fly to Taipei, "it took two whole days."
When I went, my suitcase was filled with snuff bottles, silk, dates, and other items. When I came back, "my relatives gave me a lot of old clothes" and "but I was exhausted."
Fortunately, my father's mental state was good. After meeting my childhood playmate in Pingtung, Taiwan, I was "particularly excited."
This is the second time since 1949 that my father has returned home.
Lin Wenqing's father was born in Pingtung and later went to Japan to study medicine. In 1943, he came to the mainland to work, and in 1949, because "the ship did not catch up", he "stayed on the mainland".
Since the beginning of this year, the two sides of the strait have entered a state of isolation for decades. Also in the same year, Lin Wenqing was born in Baoding, Hebei Province.
On January 1, 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued a "Message to Taiwan Compatriots," solemnly declaring the principles and policies for striving for the peaceful reunification of the motherland and taking the lead in advocating the opening of cross-strait exchanges. Eight years later, Taiwan opened up the people to visit relatives on the mainland, kicking off the prelude to cross-strait exchanges.
Lin Wenqing clearly remembers that his father was "particularly happy" to learn that the two sides of the strait could visit each other's relatives, and he returned to Taiwan alone. When I came back, I talked about meeting my brothers and sisters, my childhood playmates, and I often cried.
"That's his haunted hometown." Lin Wenqing said that like the veterans of Taiwan's villages who returned to the mainland to visit their relatives, "he made a wish of his own."
Lin Wenqing's husband, Fu Xianming, is in a similar situation at home. His father was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and later went to Japan to study medicine. After completing his studies, he went to the mainland and worked in Beijing, Zhangjiakou and other places. In 1949, it also remained.
Fu Xianming was born in Hebei. He remembers that in the early years, relatives in Taiwan lived a prosperous life, and when they visited relatives, they would bring "gold jewelry" and would "often bring them back with the rest of their clothes."
After the reform and opening up, the mainland's economy has developed rapidly, and the cars that did not dare to think of it have "entered the family very suddenly." After "the life on both sides is basically the same", when going back and forth to relatives, they will bring some "local specialties" with them.
In the past 40 years of reform and opening up, the mainland has changed and benefited both sides of the strait. In this regard, the two old men were deeply touched.
Before retiring, they all worked for the Taiwan Compatriots Association in Hebei Province. In Fu Xianming's view, cross-strait exchanges have undergone "many tangible changes" from scratch. The earliest contacts were mostly some elderly people visiting relatives, and later investment, tourism, cultural exchanges, and economic and trade exchanges increased day by day. Nowadays, more and more young people from Taiwan come to the mainland for exchanges and entrepreneurship.
In Taiwan, Fu Xianming has relatives such as older brothers and sisters. He said that the whole big family has a WeChat group, and the group name is "Family". Now, some relatives of the younger generation of the older brothers and sisters are also optimistic about the development of the mainland and take the initiative to work in Shanghai, Guangdong, Shandong and other places.
The understanding and familiarity of Taiwanese relatives with the mainland often surprises Lin Wenqing. She feels that this "is the same as our focus on Taiwan, there is a constant emotion of renunciation." Therefore, "when cross-strait relations are tense, we will also follow the tension."
A month ago, Lin Wenqing, who was nearly an old man, went to Taiwan again. It took more than 3 hours to fly directly from Shijiazhuang to Taoyuan Airport, which made her sigh "now it is much more convenient."
With the realization of the "three links" between the two sides of the strait, when Lin Wenqing and relatives in Taiwan visited their relatives back and forth, the boxes became smaller and smaller. More often, "I will bring some old photos" and "this is more precious".
This time, I went to Taiwan to worship my parents.
Lin Wenqing's father was one of the first batch of pharmacists in Hebei after the founding of New China. According to the old man's last wishes, after his death, some of the ashes were sent back to his hometown, and some of them stayed in the place where he lived and worked. "After all, Taiwan is my father's hometown, and Baoding is the second hometown where he has lived and worked for more than 60 years."
In another ten days, it will be the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the "Message to Taiwan Compatriots." Two elderly people who have been engaged in the service work of Taiwan compatriots for decades said that in the past four decades, with the joint efforts of compatriots on both sides of the strait, cross-strait relations have become increasingly close from isolation to exchanges. It is hoped that in the future, we will work together for peaceful development and make the life of the "family" on both sides of the strait better and better. (End)