Taipei City Government officials and city councilors yesterday expressed divided views over Deputy Mayor Pai Hsiu-hsiung's (白秀雄) threat to resign from the municipal mainland affairs task force and what some consider his overly accommodating attitude toward China.
Pai, who is in Nanking after concluding the second annual Taipei-Shanghai City Forum yesterday, delivered an opening speech at the forum on Tuesday, discussing Taipei's development and future challenges.
Some so-called "sensitive words" on handouts distributed to attendees, however, had been modified by the Shanghai organizer the night before.
Although Pai reportedly indicated his displeasure with the changes and made oral corrections during the speech, he failed to file an official complaint because, he said, he was "reluctant to sabotage a friendship."
By contrast, Pai threatened to resign from the municipal mainland affairs task force, on which he serves as convener, after the Cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會) failed to approve a visit to Kueilin, Kuanghsi Province, planned as part of his 10-day trip to China.
Commenting on the discrepancies, a spokesperson for Taipei City Government, King Pu-tsung (金浦聰), told the Taipei Times that there was no point in Pai showing anger after the organizer had expressed regret over the error.
"It's not necessary to raise hell after they admit that they have done something wrong," said King, a member of the visiting delegation. "We publicly expressed our strong discontent and made oral corrections during the speech, and they also made an apology. That's good enough for us."
Asked whether he thought that the Chinese authorities were themselves behind the incident, King said, "I'm not 100 percent sure anyone from higher up knew about this beforehand, but I told them that no matter who did it, that person must be an airhead and that if that's the way they do things, we'd bring our own printer next time," he said.
As for Pai's insistence on resigning from the municipal mainland affairs task force, King said Pai had a legitimate reason to be upset.
"What Pai is angry about is that the MAC hasn't admitted that it has done or said anything wrong," he said, adding that Pai had notified the council about the planned trip to Kueilin, although the MAC claimed otherwise.
Taipei City councilor James Wei (
"The MAC failed to publicize the whole truth about the planned trip. It makes us seriously doubt its ability to handle cross-strait policy since it cannot win our trust in the first place," he said.
Wei added that Pai had handled the incident in Shanghai "properly."
"It wouldn't have helped already tense cross-strait relations if he had done it any other way," he said.
But Taipei City Councilor Lo Tsung-sheng (
"I have no idea where he stands when he's so weak toward China and so harsh on his own country," he said. "When he comes back, I'll definitely ask him for an explanation on the council floor."
As the two-day forum concluded yesterday, the two sides agreed to take turns hosting the annual event. In addition, the two cities also hope to kick off educational and sports exchanges this summer, including student exchange programs, goodwill baseball games and dragon boat races.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS