Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday questioned the legality of New Taipei City Mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) planned visit to China, because he has applied to go as a mayor, without mentioning his KMT post.
The lawmakers said Chu’s application might not be legal, as he said only that he would be taking part in cross-strait events as New Taipei City mayor, but did not make it clear that he would also be acting in his capacity as head of the KMT at a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Monday.
“Government authorities should reject Chu’s application to visit China, since he has applied as New Taipei City mayor, but will be attending a KMT-Chinese Communist Party [CCP] forum. He is obviously making a false declaration on the application,” DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
According to laws regulating visits to China by civil servants, as a mayor of a special municipality, Chu’s application can be approved only if he is to take part in events related to his official duties, has been appointed to attend an event or conference, or is to visit his spouse or close relatives, Lee said.
“I would like to ask under what qualifications could Chu’s application be approved,” Lee said.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said civil servants, especially high-ranking ones like Chu, cannot freely visit China because they have the authority to view classified information, and may make such a trip only when it involves visiting close relatives or is related to official duties.
“I do not see how [Chu’s] meeting with Xi has anything to do with visiting close relatives or executing official duties,” Chen said.
National Immigration Agency (NIA) official Ko Kuang-wei (葛廣薇), who attended the news conference, said Chu submitted a travel application last week that cited his participation in cross-strait economic events and intercity exchanges as the purpose of his trip.
Chu did not mention meeting Xi or attending a dinner banquet hosted by Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞政聲) on the application, Ko said.
“The National Immigration Agency will hold a meeting on Wednesday with other authorities, including the National Security Bureau and the Mainland Affairs Council, to review the application,” Ko said.
Meanwhile, Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) said Chu’s application is being evaluated by a joint committee formed by members of the ministry and the two councils, and a decision would be announced by Thursday.
The committee would decide whether Chu’s attendance at the KMT-CCP forum on cross-strait economic trade is relevant to municipal exchanges, he said.
Chu is scheduled to depart for China on Saturday.
Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強), one of the most vocal critics of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, said the forum could be harmful to Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Lai said Chu’s legal obligations as mayor were less important in comparison with the lasting effects of KMT-CCP forums on the nation’s decisionmaking process on cross-strait affairs.
“In most democratic countries, exchanges between political parties from different countries are common. However, such exchanges rarely have a binding effect on government policy decisions,” Lai said.
“We can see that over the past eight years, the Ma administration has implemented its cross-strait policies in accordance with the ‘five visions of the future’ made during the first Lien-Hu meeting,” Lai said, referring to a meeting between then-Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and then-KMT chairman and former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) in 2005 when the DPP was in power.
“Party-to-party exchanges should never use Taiwan’s sovereignty as something to be bargained with, or declare any principles [on cross-strait relations],” Lai added.
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