China’s former Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) plans to visit Taiwan to pay his respects to his late counterpart former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), who died at the age of 85.
The Taipei-based SEF is to assist with Chen’s visit, former SEF secretary-general Kao Wen-cheng (高文誠) said on Saturday, adding that a precise date and schedule have yet to be determined.
A memorial in honor of Chiang is being held at the SEF building until Dec. 21, Kao said, adding that Chiang’s family has said they hope Chen will arrive before then.
Chiang, SEF chairman from 2008 to 2012, died on Monday last week of multiple organ failure at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei. At the time of his death, he was head of the Straits Economic and Cultural Interchange Association.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Friday confirmed in a statement that Chen would visit Taiwan in a private capacity.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) would work with the SEF to assist with Chen’s visit, MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said on Saturday.
When asked about Chen’s schedule, former SEF vice chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) said that Chen’s itinerary is simple: He would pay tribute to Chiang in person and visit to Chiang’s wife at their home, before returning to China.
Kao also rejected speculation that Chen would meet with former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) during his visit, saying that he “probably would not.”
A source with knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity, said that it is unclear whether Chen would meet with Lien, and even if they did, it would be a catch-up between “two old friends.”
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition