Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday said he was going to China to promote engagement across the Taiwan Strait.
“The purpose of my trip is very simple — to boost bilateral exchanges by reviewing past developments and projecting future growth trends,” Lien said prior to his departure for Beijing.
Lien, who is traveling at the head of a delegation of more than 30 political figures and business executives, said he had not visited Beijing in nearly two years.
Photo: CNA
“I want to take advantage of this trip to get an overview of the latest developments there and meet old friends and good pals of mine, as well as make new friends,” he said.
“Today happens to be the Lantern Festival on the Chinese Lunar calendar. This is a really good time to make a nostalgic, yet forward-looking journey,” he added.
Lien said that while cross-strait relations have made substantial progress in various aspects since the crucial years of 2005 and 2008, there was still ample room for improvement.
In 2005, Lien met Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) for the first time in Beijing in his capacity as then-opposition KMT chairman. The meeting was widely credited as an ice-breaking event that helped thaw the long-stalled cross-strait relations.
Bilateral engagements made another breakthrough in 2008, when the the KMT returned to power and institutionalized cross-strait talks were resumed.
During his current visit to Beijing, Lien said he would exchange views with the Chinese side on how to expand and deepen bilateral engagements based on past achievements and current foundations.
Lien further said he was not visiting China for any partisan or personal interests.
“The trip is mainly for maintaining lasting peace, stability and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait,” Lien added.
Chinese authorities reportedly took the initiative to invite Lien to visit Beijing.
He is scheduled to meet with China’s president-in-waiting, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平), today, making him the first influential Taiwanese figure to meet with Xi since he took over the helm of the Communist Communist Party (CCP) in November last year.
Xi, who has seldom addressed Taiwan-related topics in public since he assumed the post as CCP general secretary, is widely expected to outline his vision for cross-strait relations during his meeting with Lien.
Lien will hold a press conference in Beijing at 11am today after his meeting with Xi earlier in the day, according to reports from Beijing.
The members of Lien’s delegation include KMT vice chairmen Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) and John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), Lien’s son, Sean Lien (連勝文), and several business tycoons, such as Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Ruentex Group chairman Samuel Yin (尹衍樑).
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
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.
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
‘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