Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday met with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing at the annual forum between the KMT and Chinese Communist Party (CCP), during which he proposed that cross-strait matters be tackled under the banner of “one country, two areas (一國兩區).”
Both Wu and Hu stressed the importance of continued cross-strait development under the “one China” principle. Wu said the two sides had different interpretations of “one China,” but both agreed to seek a consensus and put aside their disputes.
Wu said Taiwan’s current cross-trait policies are based on the Act Governing Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which uses the concept of “one country, two areas” as its legal basis.
Photo: AFP
That the Mainland Affairs Council and not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in charge of cross-strait policy indicates that “cross-strait relations are not undertaken on a nation-to-nation basis but rather a special relationship basis,” he added.
Wu urged China to be understanding with regards to Taiwanese efforts to expand its international space.
Wu, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, defended President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) efforts to promote cross-strait peace and said the two sides should cherish what he called “the most peaceful and stable period” in cross-strait development for 60 years.
The annual forum, a regular meeting was established by then-KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Hu in 2005 when Lien led an “ice-breaking” visit to Beijing.
When asked to comment about Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Lo Chih-cheng’s (羅致政) recent visit to China, Wu said the KMT welcomed the efforts of all parties to promote cross-strait exchange.
“The KMT welcomes members from other political parties to visit mainland China for cross-strait exchanges and strengthening mutual understanding. Such exchanges will help reduce differences and form a consensus within Taiwan,” he said.
In his capacity as an academic, Lo visited China’s Yunnan Province last week to attend a two-day academic forum on cross-strait relations after receiving permission from the DPP. The visit was seen as symbolic because Lo was the first DPP official to visit China since 2008.
Additional reporting by CNA
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