The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is happy to see mayors and county heads become involved in exchanges with their Chinese counterparts, DPP spokesman Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said yesterday.
Cheng made the comment when asked about Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) attending the annual Taipei-Shanghai forum.
Cheng said the DPP was happy to see Ko and three DPP city councilors attend the Shanghai forum and exchange ideas with their Chinese counterparts.
Asked about the content and format of the visit, Cheng said the visit was being made by the Taipei City Government and the DPP would not comment on specific aspects of the trip.
The DPP has been a vocal critic of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) efforts to bring Taiwan and China closer together and has rejected the so-called “1992 consensus” advocated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government as a framework to guide relations with Beijing.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Because of the DPP’s stance on cross-strait relations, it is thought to be viewed with suspicion by Beijing.
Asked if China might restrict or stop DPP city and county heads from visiting China, Cheng said he has received no indication of such an intention.
He said that the DPP’s Central Standing Committee has reported that the 13 cities or counties headed by DPP officials would set up cross-strait units to promote exchanges across the Taiwan Strait and the party would respect the approaches they take in communicating with Chinese authorities.
Cross-strait relations have taken center stage at the Taipei-Shanghai Forum.
During a meeting with Ko on Monday, Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong (楊雄) mentioned the “1992 consensus.”
Ko made no specific response, and Taipei City Government spokesman Sydney Lin (林鶴明) later said that Ko’s thoughts on cross-strait relations remain the same.
Ko has previously said that he would respect agreements signed between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and would base ties on the principles of mutual understanding, respect and cooperation.
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS