TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that most Taiwanese people have a strong belief in Chinese culture and national identity while on a visit to China’s Shaanxi province on Thursday (April 4).

Ma attended a ceremony to commemorate the Yellow Emperor (黃帝) during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, celebrated by people in China, Taiwan, and other parts of Asia, to honor ancestors. The former Kuomintang (KMT) president said he did this to express the importance Taiwanese people attach to traditional Chinese culture and national identity, per CNA. 

The Yellow Emperor is a mythical figure that is commonly regarded as having initiated Han culture. The Han ethnic group makes up about 92% of China’s population and over 95% of Taiwan’s. 

Ma said he had worshipped the emperor during the festival in Taiwan several times prior, but that this was the first time he had done so at the deity’s mausoleum.

A group of Taiwanese students traveled with Ma to Shaanxi, which he said was a special opportunity. He said that he hopes young people in Taiwan will better remember the roots of Chinese culture and nation, and take pride in being the descendants of the emperor. 

He also recalled that in 1937, a meeting between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party was held at the emperor’s mausoleum. He said the meeting was an important symbol that showed political differences did not prevent the two parties from holding common cultural beliefs.

Ma also reiterated his often-stated position that he hopes for cross-strait peace and prosperity.