This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the All-China Federation of Taiwan. Over the past 40 years, as a department established by the mainland to adapt to the new situation after the reform and opening up of and adapt to the needs of communication and friendship with Taiwan, the All-China Federation of Taiwan has established extensive and deep friendships with groups and organizations of all straits and fields on Taiwan and the people of Taiwan, and has also created many ice-breaking events in the history of cross-strait exchanges.
40 years ago, the first director of the National Taiwan Federation and Taiwanese compatriots, Liu Caipin , with the wish to use giant pandas as a support for each other's emotional support, proposed to relevant national departments that the mainland will donate giant pandas to Taiwan from the mainland. With the continuous promotion of the past 30 years, 13 years ago, on December 23, 2008, "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" full of affectionate love for mainland compatriots came to Taipei Muzha Zoo. This issue’s “Eyewitnesses Say—The 40 Years of Cross-Strait Exchanges I Witnessed” column launched: The story behind the journey of the mainland’s first gift to Taiwan’s giant panda.
Time is like a shuttle, and it has been 40 years since I proposed the initiative to donate giant pandas to Taiwan at the National Taiwan Federation Council meeting. 40 years ago, it was also at this time that I came to Beijing with the simple wish of letting the people of my hometown see the cute panda baby , and sat in the venue of the First National Taiwan Compatriot Congress of the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots. In the blink of an eye, 40 years have passed, and this pair of "little guys" in Taiwan have become "mothers and dads". The friendship and concern between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are just like the simple wish of my mainland departments to give to Taiwan a giant panda and the simple and sincere emotions of the Taiwanese people conveying through "Tuantuan", "Yuanyuan", " Yuanzai ".
Dream
1936 I was born in Chiayi, Taiwan and went to Japan to attend university at the age of 19. On July 28, 1971, the family (a Japanese husband, me and two children) arrived in Shanghai on a freighter under the arrangement of relevant mainland units. My husband and I both work at the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In December 1981, in order to participate in the preparatory meeting for the establishment of the National Taiwan Compatriots Association , I and more than 20 Taiwanese compatriots who lived in the mainland came to Beijing. I came to this meeting with a wish. At that time, cross-strait relations had not yet become normalized, but there was always a surge in my heart, that is, I hope that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could be peacefully reunified, and the people on both sides also needed some sustenance to connect each other's emotions.
Just before I arrived in Beijing for a meeting, I received news that my mother in Taiwan had passed away. My thoughts suddenly went back to three years ago when I met her in Japan (at that time, since the Taiwanese authorities did not open up normal exchanges between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, they could only choose to reunite their relatives abroad - Editor's add), and once took her to see the scene when mainland China just gave her a pair of giant pandas to Japan. At that time, at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, there were many people queuing up in long queues every day to take a look at the giant panda. My mother and I also lined up for a long time before we saw the giant panda. I remember seeing the giant panda, my mother was stunned for a long time and said, "Dengshan is from!"
Until now, I don't know how to write the sentence "Dengshan" in the southern language of my mother, but I know that Dengshan refers to the mainland. My mother's reaction at that time made me deeply realize that for her, "Dengshan" might be a special existence. In her 83 years of life, although she lived in the Japanese colonial period for 47 years, I can feel that the traditional culture of "Dengshan" has always been in her heart and is immersed in her daily life. For example, the mother attaches great importance to the sense of ritual in a family of the twenty-four solar terms. In her heart, she firmly believes that she is a "dengshan" person. My mother's reaction when she saw the giant panda at that time also made me feel very sorry. Because of the artificial barriers at the political level between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, ordinary people in Taiwan could only silently buried their thoughts about their hometown in their hearts, and could only see cute animals from their hometowns in foreign countries, and use the "pandas in the mountains" to express their strong homesickness. This scene and this situation also contributed to my wish: the mainland should send pandas to Taiwan! Giant pandas can become messengers connecting the folk emotions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. So, with this wish, I came to the preparatory venue for the establishment of the All-China Taiwan Compatriots Association in Beijing.
During the meeting, Comrade Deng Yingchao, then Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Comrade Peng Chong, then Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, came to the meeting site several times to visit us.When Comrade Peng Chong was the secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee at that time, I was familiar with him. At a meeting, I raised my hand and said, "Comrade Peng Chong, when you were in Jiangsu, you said that you invited me to Fujian rice noodles. I haven't eaten it yet after a few years. Now, I don't want rice noodles, I want giant pandas! I hope to send giant pandas to Taiwan!"
What I didn't expect was that a few days later, Vice Chairman Peng Chong invited me to his home in Zhongnanhai . The first sentence we met was that he said to me, "Please eat rice noodles and give you giant pandas too!"
discussing the country together is a consensus on the platform
After this meeting, relevant departments in mainland China have been communicating with the Taiwan side on the matter of giving away giant pandas. I know very well that this is a matter that is not easy to achieve but is very valuable. Someone must always raise an issue that is beneficial to connecting the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to let more people know. As the saying goes, where sincerity comes, metal and stone are opened. At that time, my proposal also formed different voices in the Taiwan compatriot circle and in all walks of life in the mainland.
supporters believe that it is indeed difficult to achieve this at that time, and Taiwan will make various reasons not to accept it. But in the hearts of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, some "messengers" who have natural closeness and recognition of both sides as emotional connections. Some supporters encouraged me and said, "You have proposed it, let everyone know that sending giant pandas to Taiwan will cause certain public opinion on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and overseas, and the Taiwan authorities will slowly accept this public opinion demand."
Opponents believe that considering the cross-strait relations at that time, normal exchanges have not been restored. "Liu Caipin is astronomy, looking at the stars all day long, dreaming!"
But in my heart, I have never let go of this wish. In my opinion, the fact that the giant pandas came to Taiwan is to "endorse the Taiwanese compatriots." The Taiwan Union Council is held every year, and I make this suggestion to relevant parties every year. What makes me feel relieved is that in January 1986, at the Third Council of the Second National Taiwan Federation of Taiwan, all the directors unanimously approved my suggestion to present a pair of giant pandas to compatriots in Taiwan. In the report formed at this meeting, it was written: "Panda is a national treasure of our country, a world-famous rare animal, and pandas are available in zoos in major urban zoos in various provinces of our country. As Taiwanese compatriots living in the mainland, we eagerly hope that the villagers in Taiwan can appreciate our common national treasure, the cute figure of giant pandas, with the mainland people as soon as possible." Since then, this suggestion was submitted to relevant national departments in the form of a collective proposal for the Taiwan Provincial Group of the 6th Fifth Session of the National People's Congress , , and the matter also attracted widespread attention from the news media at that time.
In April of that year, the relevant departments responsible for hosting this proposal contacted me. As a representative of the National People's Congress's Taiwan delegation at that time, I went to Beijing Zoo to discuss this matter with relevant parties. Beijing Zoo started raising giant pandas in 1955 and successfully bred in 1963. They already have rich experience in raising giant pandas artificially. As a "friendly messenger", the giant panda had settled in zoos in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, , Mexico, and other countries at that time.
Beijing Zoo received a proposal from relevant parties to give Taipei giant pandas. It is very happy at the zoo level. Regarding how giant pandas are transported to Taipei and the subsequent breeding and care issues, Beijing Zoo proposed two plans: one is to form a team of giant panda breeding and veterinary experts from Beijing Zoo to send the pair of giant pandas to Taipei, and at the same time provide relevant training for Taipei Zoo colleagues. Another plan is to send a team from Taipei Muzha Zoo to Beijing Zoo to learn about the knowledge of raising giant pandas, and then bring the giant pandas back to Taipei after the study is over.
After that, the Beijing Zoo continued to prepare for the gift of Taiwan giant pandas, and selected two giant pandas, "Lingling" and "Lele", to prepare to give them to Taipei Muzha Zoo. I was also invited to visit these two lively and cute giant pandas at the Beijing Zoo. The customs and animal and plant quarantine departments also stated that they would cooperate according to special circumstances.
The mainland’s gift of giant pandas was spread by the media, and the entire Chinese world also caused trouble at that time. Representatives on the island also spoke out for this matter: It is a good thing that the introduction of giant pandas from the Beijing Zoo can satisfy the Taiwanese people’s desire for a “national treasure”! In order to let the giant panda come to Taiwan earlier, relevant Taiwanese people also worked hard for this. I have also received many letters written to me by Taiwanese people, hoping that I can help me and let the giant panda come to Taiwan as soon as possible... One of my initiatives has truly become a wish of the majority of Taiwanese people, which makes me very pleased.
But unfortunately, the Taiwanese authorities regarded this move as a means of "mainland united front for Taiwan" at that time, and repeatedly refused to accept mainland giant pandas going to Taiwan for various reasons. As a cute animal, giant pandas are painted with "political colors" for no reason, which is simply ridiculous. As a result, the mainland's donation of giant pandas in Taiwan can only be temporarily put on hold, bringing endless hope and waiting to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, especially those who care about and support the matter.
Realize the dream
Time is until the early 1990s, and I was invited to Taiwan to attend an academic conference. Li Yuanzhe, the winner of Taiwan Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said to the guests in his speech at the conference: "I am very happy to see Teacher Liu Caipin present, but I regret not seeing the giant panda with her..."
His words touched and relieved me who was sitting in the audience, and made me deeply believe that giving away giant pandas in Taiwan, which is in line with the wishes of the Taiwanese people, will surely come true one day.
transit appeared in 2008. At this time, cross-strait relations were in full bloom, and the issue of giving away giant pandas in Taiwan was put on the agenda again. On December 23, 2008, the "panda special plane" full of affectionate love for mainland compatriots flew from Chengdu to Taipei, and the highly anticipated giant panda "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" finally arrived at the Taipei Muzha Zoo. A wish that has been in my heart for nearly 30 years has a happy ending.
△On December 23, 2008, "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" filled with affectionate compatriots from mainland China went to Taiwan. Photo provided by the Taiwan Affairs Office of Sichuan Province
I still remember the mood I described when the media reporter interviewed me, "A song originally sung by me alone became a song sung by the people of the whole country, and later it became a song sung by Chinese and Taiwanese overseas Chinese all over the world, and it was successfully sung. I am very pleased!"
Time has gone through 40 years, and recalling this past has added some expectations for my relatives in Taiwan and the reunification of the motherland. I hope that in my lifetime, I will be able to see the reunification of the motherland. I hope that "this song" can still be like "tuantuan" and "yuanyuan" coming to Taipei. It is a "perfect song". Don't let me wait too long.
(oralist Liu Caipin is a Taiwanese scientific worker, a director of the first National Taiwan Federation, and a representative of the 6th, 7th and 8th National People's Congress)
Source: "People's Political Consultative Conference Daily" (December 18, 2021, 08th edition)
Oral: Liu Caipin
Oral: Reporter Xiujing
Column Editor: Gu Wanquan Text editor: Li Linwei Title picture source: Tu Chong Photo editor: Xu Jiamin
Source: Author: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily
Source: Author: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily
