A majority of academics taking part in a monthly consultation meeting at the Mainland Affairs Council gave a thumbs up to the main thrust of the government's cross-strait policy of using economic issues to help build a peaceful and stable relationship.
"Recent cross-strait interaction has shown that the Chinese authorities are more realistic than they were before. Economic interests are a big concern for them. This suggests that economic issues would be the best starting point for the establishment of a peaceful and stable framework across the Taiwan Strait," said Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏), director of the council's Department of Planning and Research, summarizing the consensus of the meeting for reporters afterwards.
President Chen Shui-bian (
"I wish to make an earnest call for both sides to strive toward building a framework of interaction for peace and stability at this stage of cross-strait development," Chen said.
"Let us begin by creating a common niche for economic development, consultation and promotion of direct transportation links as well as exchanges on other relevant economic issues," he said.
Jan said the meeting's participants agreed that economic interaction was a good starting point, since China saw the advantages to itself of cross-strait trade. The participants also agreed, he said, on the need to push for more cross-strait cultural exchanges, but also had made a wide range of suggestions.
One academic, he said, had suggested a forum for college presidents to exchange opinions.
"Chinese authorities are conservative about allowing their college students to participate in cross-strait exchange activities. A forum for college presidents might be an option," Jan said.
Another academic suggested that Taiwan familiarize itself with some 20 or 30 of China's fast-growing provincial cities, instead of focusing on Beijing and Shanghai.
"Commercial experience in these growing provincial cities would provide valuable information about China," Jan quoted the academic as saying.
He said a number of the academics had noted that, "Tai-wanese working for foreign companies in China are familiar with Chinese regulations and customs and China's economic situation. Government agencies should interact with such people to improve their knowledge of China."
The council holds the monthly meeting to obtain expert comment and information on developments in China.
In related news, DPP Legislator Chen Chung-hsin (
Although Chen Chung-hsin has kept a low profile since his arrival in Beijing on Sunday, his visit has aroused great interest. This is his first trip to China since becoming head of the DPP's Department of Chinese Affairs last July.
Observers are keen to see if his visit signifies a warming in the stalled cross-strait relations.
The lawmaker has denied that he would act as a secret envoy for the president or carry any messages from him to Beijing authorities. Beijing said that Chen was visiting as a scholar.
Chen is traveling with a delegation headed by Yang Kai-huang (
In Beijing, the delegation visited several think tanks and met with Wang Zaixi (
Meanwhile, Zhou Mingwei (
He said cross-strait exchanges among senior members of the media are close.
He said Taiwanese journalists made 1,375 visits to China last year, while Chinese journalists made 119 visits to Taiwan to cover news and 450 for exchanges.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods