Chinese president vows to continue to strive for national reunification

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday pledged efforts to strive for the country's complete reunification, calling it "the common aspiration of the Chinese nation."

"We will unswervingly uphold the principles of 'peaceful reunification' and 'one country, two systems' to maintain long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao and push forward the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait," Hu said at a rally celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"We will continue to strive for the complete reunification of our motherland, which is the common aspiration of the Chinese nation," Hu told the rally at the Tian'anmen Square in the center of Beijing.