Five Chinese cities that were invited to an international forum hosted by the Kaohsiung City Government are unlikely to attend the event, which starts today, a city official said yesterday.
Kaohsiung Economic Development Bureau Director Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said invitations were sent in June to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Tianjin for the three-day Global Harbor Cities Forum, but they have not responded.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday said that city-to-city exchanges between Taiwan and China would be conducive to the development of cross-strait relations and it was regrettable that the five cities had not responded to the invitations.
Kaohsiung remains open to communication and exchanges with China, Chen said, adding that she had visited China twice — in 2009 and 2013.
Positive development of cross-strait ties can only be achieved through exchanges and interaction, Chen said, adding that she would not pass up any opportunities to continue such exchanges.
On the question of whether Kaohsiung was being targeted in view of the fact that Shanghai representatives participated in a twin city forum in Taipei last month, Chen told reporters she was disappointed that the five Chinese cities had not responded to Kaohsiung’s invitation.
Forty-four cities in 24 nations have confirmed their attendance at the forum, which will cover issues such as industrial transformation, marine tourism and sustainable development, Kaohsiung City Government officials said.
The delegates include Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk from Australia; Panama City Mayor Jose Blandon; Medan Mayor Dzulmi Eldin from Indonesia; Melvin Holden, mayor-president of the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana; Callao Mayor Juan Sotomayor Garcia of Peru; and Male City Mayor Mohamed Shihab of the Maldives, the officials said.
The Kaohsiung City Government said it expects to sign several agreements at the forum with representatives from Vietnam, Panama City and Selangor in Malaysia.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS