jì niàn纪念sūn zhōng shān孙中山,zhōng guó dà lù中国大陆hé和tái wān台湾yǒu有bù tóng不同shuō fǎ说法
November 12 marks the 160th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen’s birth.
Both mainland China and Taiwan attach importance to this historical figure, but they have different views of him.
Sun Yat-sen promoted revolution, ended the era of imperial rule in China, and helped establish the Republic of China.
In 1949, the Republic of China government was defeated in the civil war and retreated to Taiwan.
At a commemorative ceremony in Beijing, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping said that the Communist Party is Sun Yat-sen’s “most faithful successor,” meaning that the Party is continuing to do what Sun Yat-sen wanted to do.
He said that Sun Yat-sen had always supported national unification, and that bringing Taiwan and mainland China together is also a historical mission of the Communist Party.
The Taiwan government did not hold a commemorative event that day.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which handles cross-strait affairs, responded that if the Communist Party truly wants to commemorate Sun Yat-sen, it should acknowledge that the Republic of China, founded by Sun Yat-sen, still exists today, and it should also respect Taiwan’s free and democratic way of life.
The council also said that Sun Yat-sen wanted the people to be in charge of the country, and that mainland China should change its political system to give people more rights.
The two sides’ differing statements are not only about Sun Yat-sen’s history; they are also related to the current relationship between Taiwan and mainland China.