Sun Yat-sen remembered 100 years after death

BEIJING -- A brief and solemn ceremony was held in Beijing on Wednesday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese revolutionary and statesman.

The ceremony in Zhongshan Park in the center of Beijing, named in honor of Sun, was attended by representatives from all sectors of society in China's capital city.

At 10:30 am, attendees stood at attention, observed a respectful silence, and bowed three times in front of Sun's statue.

Representatives from the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) Central Committee, the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Beijing municipal government, and the Beijing municipal committee of the RCCK presented floral baskets to Sun's statue.

Sun was born in 1866 and passed away in 1925. He is known to the Chinese people as a great pioneer of China's democratic revolution because of his leading role in the 1911 Revolution -- which ended more than 2,000 years of feudal rule in China.

Activities to commemorate Sun were held in Beijing, East China's Jiangsu province and Guangdong province in the south of the country, said Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

Sun was a great national hero, a distinguished patriot and a pivotal pioneer in China's democratic revolution. The Chinese people admired Sun as he devoted his life to the pursuit of national unity and revitalization of China, Chen said.

Noting that the current situation across the Taiwan Strait is complex and severe, the spokesperson called on Taiwan compatriots to jointly carry forward Sun's wishes to resolutely oppose "Taiwan independence" and external interference, promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and advance national reunification and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.