A delegation led by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) set off on a three-day visit to Shanghai yesterday morning to attend the annual Shanghai-Taipei Twin-City Forum, with Chiang saying that he would use the opportunity to facilitate the prosperous development of the capital and the nation.
“The Republic of China is a democratic country, so there will be contrasting opinions toward any important policy decision ... so we are very grateful and will value it,” Chiang told reporters before boarding a plane at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) yesterday morning.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) was at the airport holding a sign that read: “The twin-city forum is the model for the ‘united front’ campaign,” and urged Chiang not to become a “chess piece” in China’s “united front” tactics toward Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Government
Chen said that Chiang should not waste taxpayers’ money by attending the forum and instead focus on municipal administration.
Due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intensifying its rhetoric and military coercion, Chiang, as mayor of Taipei, should use the forum as a platform to speak up for Taiwanese and protest against the CCP, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chien Hsu-pei (簡舒培) said.
Chiang should ask the CCP to stop its malicious behavior toward Taiwan and express mutual friendliness, and if the CCP is unwilling to respond to his request, he should carefully consider whether Taipei should host the next annual forum, she said.
“Taipei is the most developed area in Taiwan, and as Taipei mayor I have a responsibility to grasp any opportunity to strive for the prosperous development of the city and the nation,” Chiang said, adding that no matter changes in party politics or cross-strait relations, the forum has served to maintain dialogue between the cities of Taipei and Shanghai.
He said that cross-strait relations are fraught, which is not something Taiwanese want to see, but steady trade and economic exchanges continue through the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, and while there is friction between the two sides on exports of agricultural and fisheries products, it needs to be solved through talks.
“Cross-strait relations are complicated and cannot be simplified to a few sentences, so there must be a mechanism for dialogue,” Chiang said, adding that action is needed resolve friction.
He said people should feel safe and assured that “our intention to value democracy, and maintain peace and prosperity remains consistent.”
Upon arriving at the airport in Shanghai at about 10am, Chiang and the delegation were greeted by Shanghai Vice Mayor Hua Yuan (華源).
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS