Beijing Women's Federation

The 2024 Cross-Strait Youth Summit was jointly organized by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Education, the All-China Youth Federation and Beijing Municipal People's Government in the capital city on July 3. A sub-forum, organized by Beijing Women's Federation (BWF), opened on the afternoon of the same day on the sidelines of the summit.

Zhang Yajun, President of the BWF, presided over the sub-forum. Huo Guangfeng, Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Beijing Municipal People's Government, and Wu Yuchen, Secretary-General of the Chinese Kuomintang Youth Association, attended and addressed the event. The event was also attended by nearly 700 representatives of youth across the Taiwan Strait, women's organizations and women's federations of universities in Beijing.

 

In his speech, Huo extended welcome to youth representatives from the both sides of the Strait and conveyed his thanks to the BWF for its consistent efforts in serving women from Taiwan working and living in Beijing and the cross-Strait marriages and families. He said that the Taiwan Affairs Office of Beijing Municipal People's Government will firmly adhere to the notion that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are members of one and the same family, press ahead with the building of exchange platforms for youth, and support the career development of young people from Taiwan in the capital city.

 

Wu talked about the work of Taiwan's youth organizations in such fields as talent cultivation and youth empowerment. He also asked young people across the Taiwan Strait to engage in in-depth communication and work together toward further expanding personal horizon, stimulating creative thinking and bolstering their competitiveness.

 

Zhang said that BWF will take the sub-forum as an opportunity to listen to the voice of youth, share happy stories, deepen mutual understanding and integration between the young people across the Taiwan Strait, and make the voice of youth more vibrant and the flower of friendship more colorful.

 

As an important component of the 2024 Cross-Strait Youth Summit, the sub-forum highlighted youth's growth from the perspectives of their academic studies, career and families. It comprised three chapters, which were "Listening to the Echo of the Heart," "Listening to the Rhythm of Dreams," and "Listening to the Chords of Love" respectively, and showed the voice of youth across the Strait from multiple dimensions through the display of street videos, story sharing, live interview and artistic performance. In addition, the sub-forum also underscored the promotion of traditional Chinese culture to explain the common root and spiritual bond between the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and further strengthen their mutual understanding as well as trust.

 

The chapter "Listening to the Echo of the Heart" focused on academic experience, invited outstanding students across the Taiwan Strait to speak about personal stories of rising up to challenges and seeking knowledge, and showed the aspiration of youth.

 

The chapter "Listening to the Rhythm of Dream" centered on career growth and evolved over the themes of "igniting dream," "upholding dream" and "passing on dream." Young entrepreneurs from both sides of the Taiwan Strait shared their stories of drawing innovative strength from traditional culture, staying true to original aspiration, surpassing themselves, and using personal dream to inspire others, and demonstrated the passionate pursuit of ideals and dream by youth.

 

During the chapter "Listening to the Chords of Love," two cross-Strait couples were interviewed, and the results of Beijing's recent activities in the search of the "most beautiful families" from both sides of the Taiwan Strait were reviewed, portraying the love stories of young people, and interpreting the true essence that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are members of one and the same family through heartwarming details.

 

 

Meanwhile, the sub-forum also highlighted the stories about how traditional Chinese culture is loved by the young people across the Strait. The performance of Peking Opera and Chinese martial arts left a deep impression on participants. The event was concluded with a harmonious ensemble performance by youth from both sides of the Strait, wishing for their dream to blossom on their journey ahead.