Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) yesterday criticized city officials for refusing to disclose the names of people participating in this year’s Taipei-Shanghai forum.
She had asked the city to provide a name list three days ago, but it refused, which seems particularly ironic given that Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) always touts his administration as being “open and transparent,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member said.
Given that Ko decided on July 10 to go ahead with the annual forum, despite Beijing’s implementation of national security legislation for Hong Kong at the beginning of the month, and the Taipei City Government has refused to release the names of participants, she wondered if the city was waiting for approval from China to make the announcement, she said.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
The forum, which begins today, is being held online, as the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented Shanghai officials from traveling to Taiwan.
Ko, and deputy mayors Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) and Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) would attend the forum at the Regent Taipei, with Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng (龔正) and Deputy Mayor Zong Ming (宗明) participating virtually, Taipei City Government spokesman Tom Chou (周台竹) said.
It would focus on disease prevention in urban areas and economic development, with discussions on how to accelerate economic transition and embrace the “new normal” amid the pandemic, he said.
Ko and Gong would make opening speeches, and then two deputy mayors would speak, with Huang talking about challenging the virus and creating Taipei’s new values, and Zong speaking about the overall planning of disease prevention and control and economic development, Chou said.
A meeting system developed by Cisco Systems would be used, as Ko had told city officials not to use systems by China’s Huawei Technologies Co, while China did not want to use Google systems, he added.
Asked about Chien’s criticism, Chou said the city government does not have to get a nod from China to make its decisions.
The names of Chinese participants have always been released after the forums to help protect the their privacy, he said.
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