Senior Communist Party of China leader Jia Qinglin Monday met a visiting Taiwan delegation, who had attended a ceremony last week in honor of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, on the Chinese mainland.

Huangdi, a legendary hero who lived 4,000 years ago, is considered to be the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony was held on April 16, the third day of the third month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which is considered the birthday of Huangdi, at mausoleums in Xinzheng, central Henan Province, Huangdi's birth place.

Jia, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told the delegation that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were all Chinese and attending the ceremony showed they still loved the nation.

Unification was always the trend of history, which could not be reversed by any force, said Jia, also chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, or the top political advisory body.

He said people's concerted efforts on both sides had brought the situation across the Strait out of crisis, and achieved major breakthroughs in cross-Strait relations on the common ground that opposes "Taiwan independence" and adheres to the "1992 Consensus."

Jia especially praised efforts of teachers and students of the Huangpu (Whampoa) Military Academy in fighting imperialist, warlords and Japanese invaders before the founding of New China, saying the school, which was established in 1924 and famous for its officer graduates, "greatly contributed to national unification and independence."

He said the school's spirit should be continued to strengthen national identity across the Strait, promote exchanges, deepen political mutual trust and curb "Taiwan independence."

(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2010)