Shanghai Daily news

PFP Chairman James Soong and his wife wave to well-wishers at the Lukou Airport in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, last night. (Photo: Xinhua)

James Soong, chairman of the People First Party from Taiwan, is scheduled to arrive in Shanghai this afternoon and will stay in town for about 24 hours, holding talks with city leaders and business people.
Tonight, the city government will host a municipal banquet for his visit at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum where he will meet Chen Liangyu, secretary of the CPC Shanghai Committee.
After the banquet, he is scheduled to go sightseeing on the Huangpu River.
Tomorrow morning, Soong will visit Wang Daohan, chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, at Hongqiao Guest House.
Then he is scheduled to attend a meeting and have dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel with Taiwan business people working on the mainland. About 300,000 Taiwanese live in Shanghai and neighboring areas.
Wrapping up his visit in town, Soong will take a maglev ride from Longyang Road Station to the Pudong International Airport, leaving for Hunan Province, where he will visit his ancestral home.
Meanwhile, Xinhua news agency reported that Soong said yesterday that seeking the root and remembering the origin are important for people across the Taiwan Strait to address their problems.
In his elegiac address to Huangdi, regarded as the ancestor of all Chinese, Soong said Chinese should not forget their root and origin and the mainland and Taiwan are in the same family, Xinhua said.
"We should not forget the roots of our culture," he said. "Then we will find a solution to the Taiwan issue and have a chance to create a better future for Chinese people throughout the world."
Soong led his PFP delegation to pay homage to the mausoleum of Huangdi, 100 kilometers from Xi'an, on the first leg of his nine-day mainland visit.
Thousands of Xi'an residents and tourists from around the country enthusiastically welcomed Soong and his delegation.
Soong said the two sides across the strait should help each other and open a new chapter of the great Chinese civilization, Xinhua said.
Soong and his delegation arrived in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, last night.