Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, is interviewed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 5, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua] The two sides of the Taiwan Straits must and will be reunified, Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions. Over the years, exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Straits have become more extensive and the bonds of affection between the two sides have deepened, he said. Our compatriots in Taiwan now better understand that only when the cross-Straits relations become better, will they have a better future, he said, adding that We are increasingly capable of promoting the peaceful reunification of the country and bringing benefits to compatriots on both sides. Although the situation remains severe and complicated,we have always taken the initiative in maintaining the dominant role in the cross-Straits relations, Liu said. National reunification is a historical task and an irresistible historical trend and the fact that both sides belong to one country has never changed, and Taiwan is part of China, he said. Liu said the proposal of one country, two systems is to take into account the reality of the island and protect the interests and well-being of Taiwan compatriots. After peaceful reunification, their way of life and social system will be fully respected, he added. On the basis of recognizing the 1992 consensus with the one-China principle and opposing Taiwan independence, the mainland is ready to conduct democratic consultations with representatives of political parties and people from all walks of life in Taiwan, according to Liu. We will conduct extensive and in-depth discussions on cross-Straits relations and the future of the Chinese nation with them, and make institutional arrangements together for the peaceful development, he added. Taiwan independence advocates are only a minority on the island, and they are the common enemy for both sides. Opposing those separatists is in the common interest of all Chinese people, he said. The mainland will continue to deepen the integrative development of the two sides, share the development opportunities of the mainland with Taiwan residents, and gradually provide them with the same treatment as the mainland residents when they study, start businesses, find jobs and live on the mainland. custom bar braceletcustom sports braceletscustom logo wristbandsde securite pour personne ageeembossed wristbandscolorfilled wristbandsembossed printed wristbandsdual layer wristbands
People attend a moment of silence at 2:46 pm, the time when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, at a holiday promenade at Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday. [Photo/Agencies] Memorials held as more than 70,000 people still displaced RIKUZENTAKATA - They bowed their heads, hands clasped or palms firmly pressed together. They stood in grassy areas or roadsides overlooking the choppy sea. In Japan's capital, they lit candles and offered flowers. Some dabbed at tears. Japanese marked the seventh anniversary on Sunday of a tsunami that took more than 18,000 lives on the northeast coast and triggered a nuclear disaster that turned nearby communities into ghost towns. Residents along the coast gathered outdoors to remember the tragedy as sirens wailed at 2:46 pm, the moment the magnitude-9.0 offshore earthquake that set off the tsunami struck on March 11, 2011. The tsunami overwhelmed sea walls and washed away buildings, cars and entire neighborhoods as it swept inland. It knocked out power at the seaside Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, causing partial meltdowns in three reactors. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at an official ceremony in Tokyo that reconstruction is making steady progress, but more than 70,000 people are still displaced and many have no prospect of returning to their homes. Seven years on, residents along Japan's northeast coast have rebuilt their lives alongside huge sea walls that experts say will protect them if another giant tsunami, which some see as inevitable in a seismically active nation like Japan, was to strike. Since the disaster, some towns have forbidden construction in flat areas nearest the coast and have relocated residents to higher land. Others, such as Rikuzentakata, have raised the level of their land by several meters before constructing new buildings. A common thread, though, is the construction of sea walls to replace breakwaters that were overwhelmed by the tsunami. Some 395 km of walls have been built at a cost of 1.35 trillion yen ($12.74 billion). The sea walls will halt tsunamis and prevent them from inundating the land, said Hiroyasu Kawai, researcher at the Port and Airport Research Institute in Yokosuka, near Tokyo.
