Former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) minister Katharine Chang (張小月) yesterday took the helm of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), saying that she hopes to meet with the chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
Chang, a senior diplomat who led the council since President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration in May 2016, was elected by the foundation’s board of directors and supervisors at a meeting yesterday afternoon, after being picked by the Tsai administration to succeed former SEF chairman Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂).
On Feb. 26, Chang was replaced at the council by National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of National Development professor Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) in a Cabinet reshuffle.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“Exchanges between both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be based on mutual respect, as well as the principle of seeking common ground, while reserving our differences,” Chang said when asked by the media whether she would inherit Tien’s unfulfilled goal of meeting ARATS Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) in Kinmen.
Such a meeting could be held anywhere, as long as it is conducted in a fair, equal and respectful manner, she said.
The last meeting between leaders of the two semi-official organizations was in November 2015 in Taipei between Chen Deming and then-SEF chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森).
Communications between the two agencies have been cut since Tsai took office due to her administration’s refusal to recognize Beijing’s “one China” principle.
There is more China could do than simply granting Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), the wife of imprisoned Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), a visit to her husband in prison, Chang said.
“How can a small nation like Taiwan tolerate people who have vastly different ideas, but a large country like China cannot stomach even one individual like Lee [Ming-che]?” Chang said, reiterating the government’s oft-stated hope that Lee Ming-che will be released as soon as possible.
Following a number of failed attempts to fly to China to visit her husband in Chishan Prison in Hunan Province, Lee Ching-yu on Monday received a one-off document allowing her to enter China.
Lee Ming-che was on Nov. 28 last year sentenced to five years in prison and deprived of his political rights for a further two years by a Chinese court on charges of subverting state power.
The ruling came eight months after he was detained by Chinese authorities.
Although Chang’s position descended from the head of the government’s primary cross-strait policymaking agency to the leader of a foundation charged with carrying out policies, she said that what matters is not the level of her post, but the opportunity to contribute to furthering cross-strait ties.
“Although my jobs are in different locations, the work is all the same,” she said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS