China has indicated that it would like the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to host this year’s KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum in Taiwan, but the KMT has declined on the grounds that the timing is too sensitive, according to sources inside the party.
The Cross-Straits Economic Trade and Culture Forum has been hosted seven times, always in China, since its inception in 2006, and has played a major role as a platform for dialogue between KMT and CCP leaders.
Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in 2008, both parties have said they would like to host the forum in Taiwan, but that wish has yet to be realized.
Since the Ma administration came to power, it has sought to refer to the get-together as a “cross-strait forum” rather than a KMT-CCP forum.
According to sources, this year’s forum was scheduled for the summer and the CCP was “very much” hoping that it would be hosted in Taiwan. At the same time, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Wang Yi (王毅) has said that he would like to visit Taiwan
In the past, the highest-ranking Chinese official to attend the KMT-CCP forum has been the chairman of its top political advisory body — the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Wang and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) have also attended.
If the forum was held in Taiwan and the same rules were -applied, that would mean National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Jia Qinglin (賈慶林) and Wang would attend, which would make it a major cross-strait event.
Noting Jia’s high rank in the CCP, the sources said he would be highly unlikely to come if the forum was held in Taiwan, but added that Wang would probably attend.
However, the sources also said that the Ma administration was sensitive to the idea of senior -Chinese officials visiting Taiwan and was therefore inclined to decline the offer to host the forum.
With Ma’s presidential inauguration on May 20, the CCP’s 18th Party Congress slated to take place in the autumn and another scheduled meeting between Chen and Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), the source said it was a difficult time for the KMT to host the forum in Taiwan.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
RSS