Xi calls for unity to carry on Sun Yat-sen's legacy

Detailed summary

President Xi Jinping called on Chinese people at home and abroad on Thursday to unite more closely, carry forward Sun Yat-sen's legacy and work together for national rejuvenation,…

President Xi Jinping called on Chinese people at home and abroad on Thursday to unite more closely, carry forward Sun Yat-sen's legacy and work together for national rejuvenation, turning into reality the great dream pursued by generations of Chinese people since the advent of modern times.

Xi also urged people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Chinese people worldwide to join hands in opposing "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and the complete reunification of the motherland.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a gathering commemorating the 160th anniversary of Sun's birth, attended by about 3,000 people at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Sun, one of the nation's revered revolutionary forefathers, was born in 1866 and led the Revolution of 1911, which ended thousands of years of imperial rule in China. He died in 1925.

Xi hailed Sun as a great national hero, a great patriot and a great pioneer of China's democratic revolution who devoted his life to transforming China and made outstanding contributions to its people and the Chinese nation.

Chinese communists are the most steadfast supporters, loyal collaborators and faithful successors to Sun's revolutionary cause, Xi said. Over the past century and more, the CPC has led the Chinese people in writing the most magnificent chapter in the nation's history, he added.

The railways, roads, communications networks, water conservancy projects, canals, ports, factories and mines that Sun envisaged in his Plans for National Reconstruction have not only become reality, but have been surpassed in scope and scale, he said.

China now ranks as the world's second-largest economy and has achieved moderate prosperity in all respects, Xi said, adding that these achievements would bring solace to Sun.

The best way to remember Sun is to…

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