The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will continue to be a “second-track” mechanism for cross-strait peace, KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday as he attended the fifth Yunnan-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchange Seminar in China.
Hau delivered an opening speech at the conference, calling the so-called “1992 consensus” the foundation for the development of the cross-strait relationship in the past two decades.
According to a version of the speech Hau posted on Facebook, he said: “Although there were ups and downs during the years, we have been moving in the direction of peaceful development, especially in the realm of cross-strait economic exchanges.”
“Taiwan saw yet another transfer of political power last month. While there has been some stoppage in terms of political exchanges, I believe that the cross-strait economic, trade and non-governmental exchanges should never be halted, since the fruit of economic development is where the wellbeing of the people on both sides of the Strait lies and is the core of the cross-strait relationship,” he said.
“The KMT will not be depressed because of the electoral defeat, but will continue to play the role of the ‘second-track mechanism’ in maintaining cross-strait peace and development,” he added.
Beijing has proposed the “One Belt, One Road” initiative and has helped Taiwanese businesspeople move into inland China, Hau said, adding that Taiwanese enterprises would also play a role in Yunnan, which is one of the key areas of the initiative.
As Taiwanese companies are looking for more opportunities in western China and in the ASEAN region after facing stiff competition and rising labor costs in China’s coastal provinces, “complementary cooperation between Yunnan and Taiwan would produce great results,” Hua said.
According to the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Hau said he believes that Yunnan Province will transform from “an end tip” into a major center in the country’s opening to Southeast Asia and South Asia.
The Liberty Times and other local media also reported that Hau’s speech appealed to the idea that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same Zhonghua minzu (中華民族, Chinese ethnic group) and that the people of both nations are the “descendants of the legendary emperors Yan and Huang (炎黃子孫),” which was not mentioned in his Facebook post.
Hau reportedly met with Long Mingbiao (龍明彪), Chinese Communist Party committee secretary of Yunnan Province and deputy director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, after arriving in Kunming on Thursday night.
He reportedly told Long that Beijing should not close off informal exchanges by banning Chinese visitors and students from coming to Taiwan for political reasons.
The first Yunnan-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchange Seminar was held in 2012, which was attended by former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and then-KMT vice chairman Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正).
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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