The 40th anniversary of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation is held in Beijing on May 31, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
President Xi Jinping called on the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation to better promote international people-to-people friendship and cooperation, and the peaceful reunification of the country in a letter to congratulate the 40th anniversary of the foundation on Tuesday.
Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said in the letter that he hopes the foundation can remain faithful to the wishes of Soong Ching Ling by "forever staying together with the Party".
Soong was the wife of Sun Yatsen, a renowned statesman who led the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 that ended imperial rule in China.
Xi commended the foundation for carrying forward Soong's lofty spirit and playing a key role in enhancing international friendship, expanding cross-Straits exchanges and exchanges between the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and promoting the cause of youth and children.
The foundation should act on its fundamental purpose of "peace, reunification and future", amplify its unique strength, help with the development of young people and further the cause of public welfare and charity, Xi said.
He also called on the organization to better promote the unity of the Chinese people at home and abroad and contribute further strength to the great rejuvenation of the nation.
Soong held several prominent positions after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, including vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the nation's vice-president and honorary president of the People's Republic of China, and she represented the nation at a number of international events.
Proposed by then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the foundation was established in May 1982, one year after Soong passed away, to carry forward her unfinished mission.
A gathering to mark the 40th anniversary of the foundation was held in Beijing on Tuesday.
Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said at the gathering that Xi has pointed the way for the foundation going forward.
Wang called on the foundation to focus its work on forging consensus and unity for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The foundation should serve as a key platform for expanding people-to-people diplomacy, an important bridge to promote the peaceful reunification of the nation, a key force to promote the cause of youth and children, and an important group in furthering the cause of public welfare and charity, the top political adviser said.
