Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday embarked on a three-day visit to Shanghai, saying that Taiwan and China have different values, so it is important for the two sides to have mutual understanding and respect.
Ko and Taipei City Government officials are to attend the 10th annual twin-city forum between Taipei and Shanghai.
Speaking to reporters before his departure, Ko said that in addition to exchanging municipal administrative experiences, the forum aims to show concern for Taiwanese living in China.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The event serves as an important exchange platform, as official cross-strait communication channels have been closed, he said.
“When there is such close interaction between people from the two sides, there should be an official communication channel, so that direct discussions can take place to solve problems when they occur,” Ko said.
Communication brings goodwill, and having goodwill toward each other can break the ice in cross-strait relations, he added.
Ko reiterated his “five mutual principles” — mutual recognition, understanding, respect, cooperation and consideration for each other’s interests — and said that the two sides have been politically separated for more than a century, so there is undoubtedly a gap between them and developing mutual understanding would take time.
“The Taiwanese values that I believe in are democracy, freedom, openness and diversity, which are the current system and lifestyle that Taiwanese are most concerned about, so they must be respected,” he said.
“There is a great gap between mainland people’s desire for rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and that values that Taiwanese hold dear — democracy and freedom — which shows the importance of the five mutual principles,” Ko said.
He hopes to convey the issues about which Taiwanese are concerned at the forum, Ko said, adding that he believes this could help break the cross-strait deadlock.
He praised Taiwan’s National Health Insurance system and said the nation should be allowed to attend the annual World Health Assembly as an observer, like it did previously, and attend the International Civil Aviation Organization.
In addition to protecting the rights of Taiwanese businesspeople in China, a consensus on the protection of personal freedoms and safety as stipulated in the Cross-Strait Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (海峽兩岸投資保障和促進協議) should be implemented, Ko said.
Taiwanese should also be allowed to visit family members arrested or jailed in China, he added.
Ko said he would think about Taiwan’s overall interests and people’s well-being when attending the forum, adding that something should be done to change the cross-strait relationship and direct it toward positive growth.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS