The mass-circulation Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun urged China yesterday not to use Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) visit as a "political tool to divide Taiwan."
Instead, Beijing should use the historic meeting between Lien and President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), the general-secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as a "strategic tool to enter into peaceful dialogue with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party [DPP]," the daily said in an editorial.
If the KMT-CCP summit can develop into cross-strait dialogue -- that is, the resumption of bilateral talks that have been suspended since the DDP came to power, then this will create a "win-win" situation not only for both sides of the strait, but also for the US and Japan, the daily said.
The editorial said that Taiwan by no means has the capability to attack China and that it is China's "Anti-Secession" Law, which authorizes Beijing to use non-peaceful means to settle disputes with Taiwan, that has created tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
It is undeniable that China's "non-peaceful law" has invited world-wide condemnation, and so the best way to settle cross-strait disputes is for China to resume talks with Taiwan's ruling party, the editorial said.
Besides Lien, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) is also due to visit China. Indeed, there is public support for the opposition parties' visits, but for Beijing, the most significant visit would be one by the DDP, the paper said.
The editorial said China and Taiwan should shake off the "old pattern" of KMT-CCP dialogue and adopt a "new pattern" of formal dialogue between the two states.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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