The Presidential Office yesterday declined to say whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would attend the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) national civic affairs conference next week.
While Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the Ma administration would discuss participation at the conference, he urged DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to accept Ma’s invitation to discuss national issues with him at the Presidential Office.
Wang said the administration would inform the DPP once it had reached a decision on whether to attend.
DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), Taiwan Solidarity Union Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) and DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) visited the Presidential Office yesterday to invite Ma to attend the meeting. Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) accepted the invitation on Ma’s behalf.
Chen said Ma should attend the conference to discuss solutions to pressing issues like cross-strait relations and the financial crisis.
Talks between Tsai and Ma could be arranged later, Chen said.
The conference will be held next Saturday and Sunday.
Wang said Ma has been visiting cities around the country to gain a better understanding of the current situation and to listen to the voice of the people.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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