The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to apply for a China travel permit for KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and it has sent a representative to Beijing to discuss the details of this year’s forum between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
With the date and location of the forum still undecided, KMT Mainland Affairs Committee director Chou Jih-shine (周繼祥) yesterday departed for China to finalize the details.
He is expected to return today.
Once the forum’s location and date have been determined, the KMT and the CCP would make a joint announcement in accordance with past practices, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) said yesterday.
The KMT is preparing for the forum based on the assumption that Wu would lead a delegation to the annual meeting, Lee said.
The party would soon seek approval from the Presidential Office for Wu’s planned trip to China, he added.
The pending forum has been overshadowed by uncertainties, as Wu said last month that he would not attend the meeting unless both parties agreed on an agenda.
Local media have also reported that due to the anticipated difficulty in securing the government’s approval, KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) was likely to be the top KMT representative at this year’s forum.
The first forum was held in 2006, when the Democratic Progressive Party was in power, and a year after former vice president and then-KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) visited China in April 2005.
It was originally called the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum, but in November 2016 then-KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) changed its name to the Cross-Strait Peaceful Development Forum in response to the new cross-strait situation.
If Wu attends the forum, it would be the first such meeting he has participated in since taking over as KMT chairman in August last year.
However, as a former vice president, Wu is required by the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) to apply to the government for permission to travel to China at least 20 days before a planned departure for the first three years after leaving office.
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