The Nationalist Government's rule over mainland China lasted for 38 years,but it came to an end in 1949,ushering in decades of estrangement。 For years,ties across the Taiwan Strait were cut off。
After 38 years of this estrangement,relations began to warm。 People started traveling across the Taiwan Strait in both directions to visit relatives,and scenes of indescribable pathos took place as long-separated family members saw each other for the first time in decades。
Needless to say,it was the authorities in Taiwan and the mainland who had kept people apart all those years。 One ordinary citizen deserves a lot of the credit for getting families back in touch。 That citizen is Mr。 Tian Qichang。
For Tian,the great upheaval across the Taiwan Strait was a double-barrel disaster。 But when the opportunity came,he did his part for the greater good by providing crucial services to separated family seeking to make contact。
What Tian's Hong Kong Pok-Oi Service Department (博愛事務所) did for the people of China was not so very unlike what Oskar Schindler did for the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust。
It has been three decades since frozen cross-strait ties began to thaw。 This book has been published not just to shine a spotlight on the tremendous deeds of Tian Qichang。 More importantly,it stands as a record of a deep sadness that the people of China have had to live through。
It is our hope that people will cherish their hard-won peace,and not revisit the internecine conflict of the past。