While the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) recent efforts to carry out exchanges with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are worthy of encouragement, “no positive improvement can be seen” in the transformation of the party’s cross-strait policies, a top Chinese official in charge of Taiwanese affairs said on Monday.
Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) made the comments on the sidelines of a seminar on cross-strait relations held in Shenyang.
Sun also spoke about the possibility of a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). He said that holding such a meeting would be a good thing, but that both sides have to work hard to create the conditions for it to occur.
Cheng Siwei (成思危), former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and an academic specializing in Taiwan affairs, said that China would continue to promote political dialogue between citizens on both sides of the Strait to boost mutual understanding and trust.
Such interactions would also create platforms and mechanisms for discussions on a wider range of political issues and attract more DPP members to participate, leading to more substantive results, Cheng said.
Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), head of the financial and economic law department at Asia University, and a DPP member familiar with China affairs, said that there is consensus among political parties in Taiwan on the need to maintain cross-strait peace .
However, since Taiwan is a diverse and democratic society, it is normal that there be different and opposing views on the development of cross-strait relations, he said, adding that the key is how to settle such differences.
Chiu said that Taiwan and China should shift their cross-strait policy from one of mutual non-recognition of sovereignty to mutual recognition of sovereignty.
The signing of 19 agreements related to customs cooperation, bilateral judicial assistance and economic and trade exchanges between the two sides is tantamount to mutual recognition of sovereignty across the Strait, he said.
Ma recently expressed his hopes of attending the APEC forum in his capacity as the head of an economic entity.
In response, Sun said that China is aware of Taiwan’s long-term aspirations, but arrangements have to be made by APEC based on conventional practices.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to