China has rejected Taiwan's offer to send an official to China's chief Taiwan negotiator Wang Daohan's (
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported that China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) has rejected the offer of Chang Chun-hsiung (
"China will not allow someone of such a high position to come. We don't want Taiwan to use the opportunity to make political maneuvers and give the outside the impression that Beijing and Taipei have resumed dialogue," the paper quoted ARATS deputy chairman Sun Yafu (
Sun would prefer that Chang send two envoys in his stead to Wang's funeral on Dec. 30 in Shanghai, the United Daily report said.
Wang, a Shanghainese and ARATS chairman, died of illness in Shanghai Saturday at the age of 90.
A mentor to former president Jiang Zemin (
Koo and Wang met again in Shanghai in 1998 and Koo invited Wang to visit Taiwan. Wang never came because Beijing accused President Chen Shui-bian (
The passing away of both Koo and Wang marks the end of an important period in Taiwan-China ties. China's appointment of the next ARATS chairman and his inaugural remarks will set the tone for future cross-Strait ties, analysts said.
But Beijing is in no hurry to appoint Wang's successor due to the cross-Strait tension.
"There isn't much need to appoint the new ARATS chairman. Maybe it will be made in half a year," the paper quoted Yang Jian, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, as saying.
Yang foresees no improvement in cross-strait ties because Taiwan is unlikely to change its China policy before its 2008 presidential election.
Chen has urged China many times to reopen dialogue. Beijing rejected his call, saying the dialogue will not re-open until Chen has accepted that Taiwan is part of China, or at the very least accepts the so-called "1992 Consensus" -- in which negotiators from both sides agreed to stick to the "one China" principle but reserved their own interpretations of what that phrase meant.
Hong Kong's Ming Pao daily reported yesterday that former Chinese vice premier Qian Qichen (
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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