Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) is to make his first visit to China today to attend the opening ceremony of an art exhibition, a plan welcomed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), whose China policy has been closely watched.
Lai announced the itinerary for his two-day visit at the Greater Tainan City Council yesterday afternoon after the conclusion of a general question-and-answer session.
“Tomorrow [Friday], I will fly to Shanghai along with Greater Tainan Art Museum Preparatory Committee convener Chen Hui-tung (陳輝東), former National Palace Museum director Lin Man-li (林曼麗), National Cheng Kung University history professor Hsiao Chong-ray (蕭瓊瑞) and several city government officials to preside over the opening ceremony of an exhibition of paintings by late Taiwanese artist Chen Cheng-po (陳澄波),” Lai said.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
Chen Cheng-po was born in 1895 in then-Tainan Prefecture and despite having a relatively short life, he had left his artistic footprints all over Tokyo, Shanghai and Taiwan, Lai said, which showed that culture could spread beyond national boundaries and politics.
The Greater Tainan Government’s Department of Information and International Relations Director Chao Ching-hui (趙卿惠) said the Shanghai exhibition is the third leg of an East Asian tour of the exhibition.
“After its first leg in [Greater] Tainan [between January and March], the exhibition was staged in Bejing, China, in April. However, as the second leg coincided with a general questions-and-answer session, [Lai] decided to attend it in Shanghai instead,” Chao said.
In addition to presiding over the ceremony, Lai also plans to visit Shanghai-based Fudan University and attend a seminar on promoting medical tourism, Chao said.
Chao added that the sole purpose of Lai’s visit is to facilitate [cross-strait] cultural exchanges and that the mayor has no plans to meet any particular person.
Commenting on the matter, Tsai said she was optimistic about Lai’s visit and hoped the mayor could help increase mutual understanding across the Taiwan Strait and promote cross-strait exchanges.
DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said there has been a consensus within the party to facilitate cross-strait exchanges and that Lai’s visit carries particular significance given that Chen Cheng-po was one of the victims of the 228 Massacre.
Chen Cheng-po was shot to death by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops in front of Chiayi Railway Station on March 25, 1947, about a month after the then-KMT regime began its brutal crackdown on Taiwanese protesting against its authoritarian rule.
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