The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) annual forum with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began yesterday in Beijing and a new panel — the political panel — was created to “explore possibilities for cross-strait political talks,” KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said.
At the opening ceremony, Chan said the forum has taken place since 2006 and during those years “the KMT had been in opposition, became the ruling party [in 2008] and has now again become the opposition.”
“Looking back on the 10-year history of the forum, we see that the resolutions made in the past have been adopted by the governments in each side of the Taiwan Strait and turned into policies that greatly benefited the people,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Chan said that government officials of both sides had participated in the forum over the past eight years to discuss possible policies, which was “a rare page in history.”
“That page has been brought to a temporary end and it is widely known that the cause is the denying of the ‘1992 consensus’ as a political foundation” by the Democratic Progressive Party government, he said.
As the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have experienced “more than 60 years of institutional, military and diplomatic differences, it takes time and wisdom to discuss fusing this half-century gap and that is why a new panel — the political panel — has been added to this year’s forum,” he said.
He said that while many Taiwanese political pundits have expressed doubts about holding this year’s forum, “the KMT knows that there cannot be a lack of communication across the Strait, as prosperity has only been possible in the past eight years after the KMT decided in 2005 [to hold talks with Beijing] after witnessing the cross-strait stalemate caused by [then-president] Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration.”
This year’s forum includes five panels — political, economic, cultural, social and youth.
This year the “cross-strait economic, trade and cultural forum,” has been renamed the “cross-strait peaceful development forum.”
The change is believed to have been decided by KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) to advance her “peace party platform,” which was passed by the party’s national congress in September and has since spawned controversy within the KMT as it calls for a peace agreement with China.
KMT Policy Committee executive director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said that the party is not looking to replace the Straits Exchange Foundation, as it is an agency of public authority, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported.
The KMT, working as a non-governmental organization, is constructing a KMT-CCP communication mechanism, which would not affect cross-strait dialogue at the official level, he added.
“The KMT’s and Hung’s goal is to reduce the negative effects and damage caused by [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to a minimum,” Alex Tsai said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS