"The summit opened a new chapter for national unification," he said.

The cultural identity of any community was taken as a threat to the national unification by ruling elites until the recent years.

Voters here chose municipal and regional officials in the first local election in eastern Germany since national unification three years ago.

Two different ideas of national unification eventually came to the fore.

The reconciliation led to a slow and painful, but steady, national unification.

It was only in June and July that the Japanese allow the process of national unification to take place.

Helping to bring about national unification should be the common responsibility of all Chinese people.

Still, national unification, or the prospect of it, permeates political debate here more than ever.

Both men say the other is taking a course that is undermining national unification.

Some considered these developments victories in a march toward national lingual unification.