China's 5,000-year-old civilization has left a huge cultural legacy. The Beijing-based Palace Museum, which was established in 1925, has collected a large amount of precious cultural relics. These are integral symbols of the Chinese civilization. Due to wars and the political turmoil of the day, part of the museum's collection was relocated to south China in the 1930s and, after a dozen years being moved around, some of the collection was shipped to Taiwan in 1949 and displayed in Taipei's "National Palace Museum," built in 1965. Since that time, there have been two palace museums in the world, with the original cultural relics being divided into two parts-one in Beijing and one in Taipei. People on the mainland cannot see the collection in Taipei, and vice versa.

Thanks to improving cross-Straits relations in the past few years, the two museums' curators began to visit each other in February 2009. They have reached agreement on several issues. This growing connection between the two museums after 60 years' separation has caught the imagination of the public on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Researchers in either of the two museums seeking information on its cultural relics such as calligraphic works, paintings, pottery and bronze wares must also have a good understanding of the collection in the other museum. The complementarity between cultural relics in the two museums will make their cooperation and exchanges more effective. There are perhaps no other two institutions in the world that share this closeness.

The cultural collection in both museums shows an uninterrupted heritage showcasing the longstanding Chinese civilization. The cooperation and exchanges between the two museums will make it possible for people across the Taiwan Straits to appreciate a complete collection of palace relics. This is also a kind of cultural right of the people.

The two museums have reached an eight-point agreement, including the sharing of pictures and videos of cultural relics, information sharing and exchanges in research techniques. They will also set up personnel and exhibit exchange systems. Every year, each of the two museums will select one or two researchers, who will embark on two-to-three-month research visits. In November, the Beijing museum will, through a third institution, loan 27 cultural relics to the Taipei museum for an exhibition on Qing Dynasty's Emperor Yongzheng (1723-35).

The year 2010 will mark the 85th anniversary of Beijing's Palace Museum. It's our hope that by then the two palace museums will have made greater progress in exchanges and cooperation. This will be good for not only the Chinese across the Straits but also for the whole of mankind.