The 40th anniversary of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation will be held in Beijing on May 31, 2022. PHOTO XINHUA President Xi Jinping called on the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation to 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 CommitteeParty of China Central Committee, said in the letter that he hopes the foundation can stay faithful to the wishes of Soong Ching Ling by forever staying with the Party Soong. She was the wife of Sun Yatsen, who led the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 that ended imperial rule in China.
Xi applauded 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 core 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 promote the unity of the Chinese people at home and abroad and contribute further strength to the great rejuvenation of the nation.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Soong held several prominent positions, including the Vice-chairman of the Standing Committee on the National People's Congress, the nation's vice-president and honorary president of the People's Republic of China, and represented the nation at a number of international events.
The foundation was founded in May 1982, one year after Soong passed away, to carry forward her unfinished mission, as proposed by then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.
A gathering to mark the 40th anniversary of the foundation was held in Beijing on Tuesday.
Xi said at the gathering that he pointed out the way for the foundation going forward, as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee on the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Wang called for the foundation to 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, a key 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.