Grassroots visit promotes cross-Strait understanding

Setting his foot on the mainland for the first time in more than 10 years, 66-year-old Liu Chien-ming from Taiwan was astonished to see how much this once-familiar land had changed.

Liu was a village representative among a visiting delegation consisting of 20 grassroots officials and villagers from Taiwan's Gongguan township in Miaoli county. The group made a 7-day trip from July 7 to 15 to Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province.

"The mainland has changed a lot from my last visit!" Liu said after visiting the Sino-German International Industrial Park.

In 2008, Liu worked at Yulon Motor, the largest automaker in Taiwan, and was dispatched to the mainland to assist in establishing factories in cities like Hangzhou of Zhejiang and Xiangyang of Hubei. Yulon set up a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor in Hangzhou at the end of 2010.

Liu recalled when working in the mainland, he used to travel a lot across the Strait. "Every time I came back from Taiwan, I could see changes happening on the mainland," he said. "There were new buildings and constructions, as well as improvements to traffic and everyday life. Some of the projects which could take 10 years or more to build in Taiwan were accomplished in about half a month on the mainland."

Members of the visiting group said they were impressed by the city's battle against the COVID-19 epidemic while visiting an exhibition on the fight at the Wuhan Municipal Archives.

"Such achievements are unthinkable. This just shows the great strength of the system," said Hsieh Chuan-sheng, head of Nanhe village in Gongguan.

"Before this visit, I knew little about the virus control and prevention work on the mainland, and had misunderstandings about the battle in Wuhan," said Wu Jui-yun, a representative of Gongguan. "Only after seeing the exhibition did I learn how meticulous and thorough the measures were, and I also learned many touching stories."

"Young people in Taiwan should have the opportunity to visit these exhibitions in person to get a better understanding of the mainland," said Lee Min-cheng, a member of the delegation.

In March, former Kuomintang chairman Ma Ying-jeou also visited the exhibition and praised the measures adopted by the mainland to fight COVID-19.

Hsu Chi-ming, head of the delegation, said this is his sixth time to lead a delegation to Wuhan. He expressed hope that through these visits and activities, exchanges at the grassroots level between the two sides of the Strait can be strengthened to boost cross-Strait ties.

"People on both sides of the Strait are one family. Peace, development, exchange and cooperation are the common aspiration of compatriots across the Strait," Hsu said.

Since 2006, extensive exchanges and cooperation have been carried out between Wuhan and Miaoli, bringing benefits in business, culture, education, agriculture, health and other fields.