A collection of stamp folders featuring Wei Wen's first voyage to Taiwan is issued in Beijing on Feb 25 to commemorate the 1789th anniversary of the historical event. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

A collection of stamp folders featuring Wei Wen's first voyage to Taiwan was issued in Beijing on Monday to commemorate the 1789th anniversary of the historical event.

According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, General Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi were sent by Emperor Wu of Sun Quan in February 230 AD to lead a fleet of 10,000 soldiers, from Zhang'an County (now Taizhou, Zhejiang province) to Yizhou (now Taiwan).

It is the earliest record of an exchange between the mainland and Taiwan, and is also historical evidence that China was the first country to access and manage Taiwan.

Liu Jianfei, professor and dean of the International Institute for Strategic Studies at the Party School of the Communist Party of China, noted at the launching ceremony that Wei Wen's voyage to Taiwan embodies the profound history of cross-Straits relations, which is evidenced by unearthed ruins and relics, adding that research into the event is of great significance in promoting peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

Wei's expedition, 1,170 years earlier than Zheng He's voyages (1405) and 1,260 years earlier than Columbus' discovery of the New World (1492), is one of the greatest events in global navigation history and also a valuable world cultural heritage.