Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Soong, who was the only candidate in the second PFP chairmanship election, won with 99.19 percent of the 36,563 ballots cast.
In his congratulatory message, Hu expressed the hope that both Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the PFP will continue to work toward promoting the development of cross-strait relations.
Hu last Sunday had also sent a message of congratulations to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on winning the election as the party chairman. Hu in that message, he also urged Ma to "join hands" with the CCP.
Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生), PFP secretary-general, expressed his appreciation on behalf of Soong -- who is on vacation in the US -- in a reciprocal letter, which was later signed by Soong.
Soong said he will continue to dedicate himself to the promotion of cross-strait peace and development as well as the promotion of exchanges and cooperation with China.
Meanwhile, to move forward with the six-point agreement reached between Soong and Hu -- who doubles as CCP's general secretary -- during their meeting in Beijing May 12, the PFP is planning to co-sponsor an economic forum in Shanghai, party officials said yesterday.
They said scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as neighboring countries will be invited to attend the forum to discuss issues, including cross-strait free trade zones, prospects for the Asian economic integration and regional cooperation.
If all goes well, Soong could visit China again in September and meet with Chinese leaders. Soong traveled to China in early May on what he called a "bridge-building journey."
China could also send "very high ranking" officials to attend the forum, Soong's aides said.
After Soong's visit to China in May, the PFP decided to form a cross-strait task force to promote cross-strait relations and exchanges, with PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) serving as convener. There are 13 teams under the task force, and a party agricultural team has visited China several times to promote Taiwanese fruit exports to China.
The aides said that they don't intend to compete with a cross-strait forum planned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which is scheduled to take place in Taipei in August, saying that the timing and the theme of the two forums will be different.
They said that initial planning calls for the forum to be made up of business elite will focus on cross-strait financial and regional economic integration.
Soong could stay in Shanghai for a longer time and there will be no other visits, party officials said. To promote channels of communication between the PFP and the CCP, the party could also send a delegation to visit Beijing again to exchange views with Chinese leaders.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS