Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday denied a media report that China had asked her to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus” before she would be allowed to visit the country next month. Chen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said she has no plans to visit China at the moment.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday reported that Chen had planned to pay a visit to a northeastern region of China next month, but the plan was dropped after China demanded that Chen recognize the “1992 consensus” as a precondition for the visit.
Asked to comment on the report, Chen said: “The city’s Tourism Bureau is planning a visit to China next month; as for me, I don’t have such a plan at the moment.”
Chen added that she has always believed that, when it is beneficial for the development of the city and for cross-strait relations, there should be more frequent cross-strait exchanges.
“The two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] should work together to create a mutually friendly atmosphere by putting aside their differences while finding similarities,” Chen said, adding that there were very good interactions between the two countries when Kaohsiung hosted the World Games in 2009 and the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit in 2013.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) said China welcomes all organizations, government agencies at different levels and individuals from Taiwan, as long as they support the “1992 consensus,” oppose Taiwanese independence, and agree with the idea that Taiwan and China are “one country.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both Taiwan and China acknowledge there is “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.”
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS