Taiwan compatriots pose for a picture outside the Beijing Exhibition Hall on October 29, 2022. Photo: Wang Cong/GT

Many young Taiwan compatriots expressed pride in the rapid development of the Chinese mainland over the past decade and confidence that the island of Taiwan will definitely return to the embrace of the motherland, as they visited a major exhibition in Beijing on Saturday. 

Nearly 40 Taiwan compatriots, including students and entrepreneurs who currently live in Beijing, visited the exhibition at the Beijing Exhibition Hall, which aims to showcase the remarkable development achievements made in all respects over the past decade under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). 

Cao Genghao, a student at the Renmin University of China from Taiwan, told the Global Times that he is deeply interested in the history of the CPC, and the outstanding achievements of the CPC in leading the Chinese mainland to become the second-largest economy in the world drew him closer to the mainland.

After learning about achievements in various areas from poverty alleviation to national defense, the area dedicated to the One Country, Two Systems policy drew much attention from the Taiwan compatriots, with many taking pictures, while some looked for themselves in pictures already on display. Their genuine pride in the great achievements of the motherland was palpable.  

"I agree with the view that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are of the same family. In addition to promoting work between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, I want to represent China on the international stage and speak up for the motherland," Cao said in an interview during the visit. 

Cao said that he will share his experiences on the mainland with teachers and students in Taiwan. "Because my teachers and classmates know me well, they tend to believe what I share. This is a small contribution that I can make at the moment," he said, adding that many Taiwan media coverage of the mainland tends to be "tainted," and personal experiences like his are more accurate. 

While some secessionist forces on the island of Taiwan as well as anti-China forces in some Western countries, most notably the US, have been instigating tensions across the Straits, many Taiwan compatriots remain confident that the island will definitely return to the motherland. 

Shen Hongrui, a student at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from Taiwan, also said that he often shares his personal experience on the mainland on social media platforms to help other Taiwan compatriots "see the real mainland."

"Economic and trade exchanges between the mainland and the Taiwan island are like capillaries of the human body - so densely packed and inseparable. Taiwan will definitely return to the embrace of the motherland," Shen, who is currently working on a paper about cross-Straits economic and trade exchanges, told the Global Times on Saturday.