An annual forum on cross-strait economic development in Hangzhou kicked off with China's Taiwan Affairs Office admonishing investors in Taiwan to steer clear of support for Taiwan's independence.
"It is not permissible for individuals to benefit from cross-strait economic ties and yet remain proponents of Taiwan's independence while [in Taiwan]," Wang Zaixi (王在希), vice minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a speech yesterday.
"It is very dangerous for Taiwan to think that China would be willing to tolerate Taiwan's independence in order to promote economic development and to host the Olympics," Wang warned.
"Those supporting Taiwan's independence also express at the same time a willingness to develop cross-strait economic relations," Wang said.
He said that this made apparent the duplicity of Taiwan's policy on China, saying that there were different policies for the political and the economic spheres.
According to reports yesterday, the conference attracted roughly 200 participants, more than in previous years. The Xinhua News Agency referred to the forum as an instance of important cross-strait exchanges. It is also the first forum on cross-strait relations organized by the Chinese government since President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration in May.
The forum is organized each year by a research institute affiliated with China's Taiwan Affairs Office.
The annual forum was attended by several high-profile Taiwanese investors, including Shin Kong Financial chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進), Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) president Lee Chih-tsuen (李志村) and Chinese Federation of Labor vice chairmen Preston Chen (陳武雄).
Several former Taiwanese government officials were in attendance yesterday. Former Control Yuan president Wang Tso-jung (王作榮), former minister of justice Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪) and New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) were all present.
China Airlines, Evergreen International Corporation, Uni-President Group, and Yulon Motors Co also sent representatives to the forum.
Wang also addressed the issue of establishing direct links across the Taiwan Strait, saying that it was an internal matter.
"Direct links are a cross-strait matter. They are an internal affair concerning the Chinese people on both sides of the strait. It is not an issue between two countries," Wang said.
He said that China welcomed non-governmental organizations or enterprises in Taiwan to discuss the matter with China as long as it is in accordance with principles of establishing direct and two-way links of mutual benefit.
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
RSS