The Four "Not" Principles General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed when meeting Taiwan's People First Party Chairman James CY Soong on Wednesday, can be expected to stabilize the interrupted relations across the Taiwan Straits.

The principles emphasize that the policy to promote peaceful development of cross-Straits relations will not change, neither will the pragmatic measures to boost exchanges, cooperation and mutual benefit, and the mainland's sincere enthusiasm to unite Taiwan compatriots for common endeavor will not diminish, nor will the determination to prevent "Taiwan independence" falter.

The meeting took place as relations across the Straits have experienced a wave of turbulence after the adoption of the service trade agreement was interrupted on the island, and as some have wondered how the mainland will react to the interruption and whether the smooth development of cooperation and exchanges will continue.

Xi's reiteration of the mainland's firm stand and his optimism about the future of cross-Straits relations reassures Taiwan compatriots that the mainland's Taiwan policy will not change.

This is because whatever differences there are across the Straits, people on both sides are of the same family, a fact that can never be denied or changed. And neither can the fact that the peaceful development of relations is in the interests of people on both sides of the Straits.

There should be no problems and difficulties that cannot be solved and overcome when both sides adhere to this fundamental fact.

It is also on the basis of this fact that Xi stressed that more would be done to know about the needs of ordinary residents so corresponding measures can be taken to let an increasing number of residents on the island benefit from economic cooperation and exchanges across the Straits.

This will further extend the foundation for people across the Straits to build mutual trust, which will help iron out the differences and melt the estrangement that has developed thanks to the separation of the past more than 50 years.

Only when more residents on the island realize how important cross-Straits cooperation is to their life and to the future of the entire island will they come to recognize what a great danger "Taiwan independence" poses to the peaceful development of relations across the Straits, their own well-being and the future of Chinese nation.

This explains why Xi is optimistic about the future of cross-Straits relations.

(China Daily 05/09/2014 page8)