But Wuhan academic says his proposed unification legislation sank into obscurity
When law professor Yu Yuanzhou heard Premier Wen Jiabao say the mainland should have a unification law, the idea must have sounded familiar - he made the same suggestion almost two years ago.
The academic from Jianghan University in Wuhan must have felt vindicated as well. When he drafted the national unification promotion law and sent 1,000 copies to government bodies and scholars in November 2002, there was little interest.
The only official response he received came almost a year later - in October last year - when a deputy-director of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) research office invited him to visit.
Otherwise, the 4,000-word proposal sank into obscurity and was largely ignored, even in legal circles.
Professor Yu said he was convinced that his suggestion was never considered by top leaders.
'I can say that my draft was received by the TAO and it was nice that the office has responded,' he said from Wuhan.