They are right. Cultural exchange is a form of politics — not the kind involving deception, but one centered on people. When mainland audiences weep with actors from Taiwan, the walls built by political maneuvering look flimsy.

　　Chairwoman Cheng will arrive in April, visiting Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing. I will take my wife to the cinema soon. Afterward, I will call my family in Taiwan and tell them: I am in Shanghai, watching a movie from Taiwan in a room full of mainland friends, all of us wiping away the same tears.

　　The author is the dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Sanda University in Shanghai.

　　The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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