Outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) will lead a delegation to the fifth KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum this weekend in Changsha, Hunan Province, a KMT official said yesterday.
This will be the final cross-strait event Wu will attend before stepping down in September and concludes his duties in overseeing high-level party-to-party exchanges, the KMT official said.
Meanwhile, for the first time KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) will not attend the forum since the party-to-party platform was created in 2005.
A Lien aide said the honorary chairman is no longer in charge of organizing or attending the forum, as he passed the baton to the head of the KMT last year.
People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) will also not attend, but the party will send other representatives in his place, the KMT official said.
The official said the upcoming forum would focus on the theme of deepening cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.
The agenda includes preservation and innovation of Chinese culture, collaboration in cultural industries, and expansion of educational exchanges. In addition, there will be a conference on economic exchanges, the official said.
The annual forum, a regular communication platform for the once bitter rival parties, was set up by then-KMT chairman Lien, and CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in 2005, when Lien led an “ice-breaking” visit to Beijing.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on June 29 registered as the sole candidate for the KMT’s chairmanship.
When asked by media on Thursday whether he would meet Hu in his capacity as KMT chairman, Ma said he had no immediate plans to meet Hu, adding that it would be better for leaders across the Taiwan Strait to meet after the two sides have found solutions to certain fundamental issues.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
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