By inviting leaders of Taiwan's political parties to visit China, Beijing is trying to allay international criticism of its "Anti-Secession" Law, analysts said yesterday.
As Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), head of Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, announced yesterday that Hu "invited PFP Chairman James Soong to lead a party delegation to visit China."
Lien "will give China a nice gift" by visiting Beijing, which is eager to shift the international community's focus from its much decried Anti-Secession Law to its political exchanges with Taiwan, said Chi Nan University public policy professor Byron Weng (
The KMT desires to boost its profile with Lien's China trip and hopes to cement a close relationship with the Chinese authorities that President Chen Shui-bian (
"I don't think the KMT will go as far as betraying Taiwan," Weng added. "It arranged the Beijing visit for its own benefit. In a way, the KMT and Beijing use each other for their political gain."
Weng was skeptical about whether Chen Shui-bian would authorize Soong to talk to Hu on his behalf, even though the two signed a 10-point consensus on several issues, including cross-strait relations, in February.
"It is very difficult for them to establish a relationship based on mutual trust," Weng said.
Inviting Taiwan's opposition leaders to visit China is one of Beijing's strategies for unifying with Taiwan, said Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), a professor at Tamkang University's Institute of China Studies.
Chang said that the government here should think about how to turn the trips into opportunities to seek peace with China.
Chen Shui-bian is unlikely to authorize Soong to speak for him in China, Chang said, because the law does not allow the government to grant political parties the right to conduct negotiations with Beijing.
Beijing knows its talks with Lien and Soong will not have much impact on Taiwan's cross-strait policies unless the opposition leaders find ways to cooperate with the Taiwanese government, Chang said.
China, which reacted positively to Chen Shui-bian's 10-point consensus with Soong, hopes the Taiwanese government will be willing to carry out any agreements it reaches with the PFP, Chang said.
"The government should try to develop cross-strait relations by furthering cooperation with the opposition parties ... Taiwan should have a positive attitude toward Hu's meetings with Lien and Soong," he suggested.
But Alexander Huang
"Beijing has poked its finger into Taiwan's domestic politics," he said.
China woos not only Taiwan's opposition leaders but also its farmers and businessmen, he said.
"These moves affect Taiwan a lot," said Huang, a former vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS