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.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS