Questions of forum waste
Former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), the Democratic Progressive Party’s nominee for the Taipei mayoral election, has said that the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum, which was conducted online on Tuesday last week and lasted only 90 minutes, was a waste of money, costing NT$950,000 with little substance to show for it.
In response to Chen’s criticism, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the KMT’s Taipei nominee, said that Chen was being narrow-minded, that promoting cross-strait communication and opening up opportunities for exchanges was a positive thing, and that NT$950,000 was “absolutely not a waste of money.”
Independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Ying-meng (林穎孟) compared the cost of this year’s forum to previous occasions that had been hosted by Taipei.
The 2018 forum, which was held in person, was divided into four discussion groups and cost NT$850,000, the equivalent of NT$1,770 per minute, compared with the more than NT$10,000 per minute that this year’s event had clocked up, Lin said.
Chiang had clearly not done his homework and was just throwing Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) a lifeline to help him in his own attempt to be elected mayor, she said.
Taipei residents would have absolutely no problem with spending the money on holding the forum if it actually led to substantial results, rather than simply being an excuse for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to promote its “united front” cause and other political agendas.
The Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City format had already become an event at which Beijing could play its “united front” tricks.
Taipei residents know exactly what is happening and that the forums do not lead to any actual benefits, which is why they consider them to be a waste of money.
Chiang in May said that the forum should not be held unless three conditions were met in advance: that the CCP would stop intimidating Taiwan, that it would show goodwill toward Taiwan and that it would regard the two sides as equals.
However, there has not been any reduction in the daily flights by Chinese People’s Liberation Army warplanes toward Taiwan, China continues to put pressure on Taiwan internationally, and Beijing still patronizes Taipei and Ko. None of Chiang’s three conditions were met.
Is Chiang sure that the forum has been entirely positive and “absolutely not a waste of money”?
Chen Ho-wen
New Taipei City
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