【Digest】宋楚瑜经港返台

 

Hometown ready to welcome back PFP Chairman James Soong 
 
2005-05-08 01:53:50 Xinhua English
 
CHANGSHA, May 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Streets are sprinkled with clean water. Bacon and rice wine prepared. In Shebu, a town in central China's Hunan Province, local people are ready to welcome back an important leader to his hometown.

James CY Soong, chairman of the People First Party (PFP) in Taiwan, will return to Juyu, a village within the township, Mondaymorning to pay homage¹ to his ancestors. He will also visit the primary school where he once studied and have a brief reunion withhis younger female cousin Liu Manjun in Xiangtan after being gone for more than half a century, said sources with the Hunan provincial² government.

"James Soong is coming back. We feel very glad about it. It's a happy event of our village," said a farmer working in the fields.

Soong, born in 1942, left the Chinese mainland for Taiwan Province in 1949 when the Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war to the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, separated bythe 100-km-wide Taiwan Straits, have been limited. The move for independence by the Taiwan authorities in recent years has increased tensions, a situation the PFP and the Pan-Blue Alliance it forms with the Kuomintang and the New Party strive to rectify³. The alliance holds more than half of the legislative⁴ seats in Taiwan.

Liu Manjun has been rather busy these days. She has been preparing gifts for cousin Soong and his delegation⁵ visiting the mainland at the invitation of the CPC Central Committee and its General Secretary Hu Jintao and receiving reporters.

"I saw him on TV," Liu said excitedly. "When we meet, I want tohave a long chat with him."

She said she'll present Soong with a fine silk embroidery⁶, a mounted map of the city area and a family photo taken in Nanjing in 1947.

Soong Yangxi, aunt of James Soong, said she and her husband will treat James Soong with home-made bacon and rice wine. They'llalso give him a pack of home-grown tea when he leaves.

"General Secretary Hu Jintao invited James Soong to make the visit. That's an honor on the Songs," said husband Wang Youqi.

The PFP's nine-day mainland visit began on May 5 close on the heels of a mainland trip by the KMT. The KMT, the largest opposition⁷ party in Taiwan, concluded its eight-day mainland visiton May 3.

According to arrangements at the moment, Soong and the PFP delegation will fly to Changsha, capital of Hunan, from Shanghai Sunday afternoon. After their arrival, secretary of the Hunan provincial committee of the CPC will host a banquet in their honor.

The delegation will drive to Juyu, conduct the ancestor worshipactivity and then go to the downtown Xiangtan Monday morning, where Soong will meet with city officials and some relatives and attend a welcoming banquet.

On Monday afternoon, Soong will visit his primary school, meet his cousin and then return to Changsha.

On Tuesday morning, the party will fly to Beijing after visiting a renowned⁸ learning site, the Yuelu College and the popular provincial museum. James Soong is expected to meet Hu Jintao in Beijing.

"We have learned that many reporters, both Chinese and foreign,will be here to cover the trip. We have made preparations for it,"said an official with the provincial government.

Soong's mother Hu Tiaorong, who is in her 80s, and some relatives, arrived at Changsha Saturday afternoon and received a warm welcome.

Most residents of Taiwan can trace their ancestral roots to themainland. Reports say even Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian and his workmate Lu Hsiu-lien have roots on the mainland, with some of their close relatives still living.

Upon his arrival to the mainland on May 5, James Soong told thewelcoming crowd at Xi'an airport he made the visit to "serve as a bridge between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland for mutual⁹ trust, mutual understanding and cooperation."

He said that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are descendants of Yandi and Huangdi, legendary¹⁰ forefathers¹¹ of the Chinese nation.

"We are of one family and should jointly¹² create our great common future," Soong told the cheering crowds.

1 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

2 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

3 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

4 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 embroidery   

n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品

参考例句：

• This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品，使人惊叹不已。
• This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

9 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

10 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

11 forefathers   

n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left. 它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。