Ma Ying-jeou leads a group of Taiwan students to Hunan University and holds discussions, Hunan Province, China, April 2, 2023. /Xinhua
Ma Ying-jeou led a group of Taiwan students to Hunan University on the Chinese mainland on Sunday morning.
Ma and other guests visited the thousand-year-old Yuelu Academy on the campus, a prestigious ancient academy that was founded in 976 AD and later became part of Hunan University.
They then reviewed the history of the Chinese people fighting the Japanese aggression at a former site where a ceremony to accept the Japanese invaders' surrender in parts of Hunan Province was held in 1945.
Ma Ying-jeou leads a group of Taiwan students to Hunan University in Hunan Province on the Chinese mainland, April 2, 2023. /Xinhua
At the National Supercomputing Center in Changsha, a data computing institute located at the university, about 60 students across the Taiwan Straits communicated with each other, had heated discussions about carrying forward Chinese culture and other topics, including employment and starting businesses.
The people living in Taiwan and on the mainland share the same culture and ethnic identity, Ma said, noting that it is vitally important that both sides of the Straits adhere to the one-China principle.
"It is hoped that based on this precondition, efforts will be made to reduce estrangement and hold sincere exchanges across the Straits," Ma said.