Among the tens of thousands of visitors to the World Expo in Shanghai last week were a bevy of pan-blue politicians.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), along with People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), arrived in Shanghai before the expo’s opening and met Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on Thursday.
Lien and Wu attended the opening ceremony on Friday night and visited the China pavilion on Saturday morning before joining Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) for the launch of the Taipei pavilion.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
After visiting the China pavilion, Lien said the Cross-Strait Peace Development Foundation, of which he is president, would donate 3.13 million yuan (US$450,000) for post-earthquake relief work in Qinghai Province after last month’s quake that killed more than 2,200 people and injured 12,000.
Lien later lauded the Taipei pavilion for demonstrating the city’s great achievements in wireless access and garbage recycling to the world, but declined to comment when asked about Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, who accompanied him to the pavilion.
Wu said the invitation to Taiwan and Taipei to participate in the expo was a result of peaceful cross-strait relations, adding that he expected the two sides to increase such exchanges.
“Taiwan’s participation in the Shanghai Expo is the result of us replacing cross-strait confrontation with peaceful cross-strait development. We should push for more cross-strait exchanges,” he said.
A group of pan-blue legislators and Taipei City councilors also attended the expo, while Independent Legislator Kao Chin Su-mei (高金素梅) led a group of Aboriginals who were invited to perform at the expo’s opening ceremony on Friday night.
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