Fulfilling his family obligations at last, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
"This moment is an unforgettable one for the Lien family... Sixty-some years is a long time; in the past, there was no way to come here to pay my respects. I am moved and grateful for this moment," Lien said yesterday.
Accompanied by his wife Lien Fang Yu (
Speaking in Taiwanese, Lien said that visiting his grandmother's grave for the first time since his departure from China made all of the bitterness and sadness of the past 60-some years well up in his heart.
Yesterday was the first time that Lien family members had been back to sweep his grandmother's grave since his family left for Taiwan, Lien said.
After sweeping his grandmother's grave in the afternoon, Lien and his accompanying delegation flew to Shanghai, where he will spend two days.
According to a CNA report yesterday, Lien is scheduled to meet with Wang, the chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, this morning, after which he will meet with local Taiwanese businessmen.
Lien is scheduled to return to the nation tomorrow. Many fear a bloody encounter, reminiscent of the violence seen at the airport during Lien's departure for China on April 26.
Wang, currently hospitalized, reportedly will leave his hospital room to meet with Lien at a nearby hotel for talks, probably on issues including the so-called "1992 consensus" -- that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait hold different interpretations on the definition of "one China."
Wang met with Taiwan's top negotiator with China, Koo Chen-fu (
Koo and Wang met again in 1998 in Shanghai, known as the second "Koo-Wang" talks, but their third meeting never came about after former president Lee Teng-hui (Lee Teng-hui) redefined "cross-strait relations" as special "state-to-state" relations in 1999, whereupon Beijing closed its door to dialogue with Taiwan, accusing Lee of promoting Taiwan independence.
Koo died at the age of 88 in March.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
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
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS