Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) met with Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), the party said yesterday, after KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) earlier in the day said that no such meetings would take place without first informing the public.
After a KMT think tank event, Chu said that Hsia would not meet with Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Liu Jieyi (劉結一) during his visit to China.
Chu was responding to media reports saying that Hsia was rumored to meet with high-level Chinese officials this week.
If Hsia meets with any high-level Chinese officials, the details of those meetings would be made public beforehand, Chu said.
Hsia embarked on a trip to China to meet with Taiwanese businesspeople there on Aug. 10, immediately after Beijing held unprecedented live-fire drills around Taiwan after a visit to the nation by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Hsia’s trip has drawn criticism not only from the Democratic Progressive Party, but also from within the KMT.
Chu said the reports were not accurate, adding that Hsia would say and do what is necessary in China based on the position of the Republic of China and Taiwanese.
Regarding criticism from within his party, Chu defended Hsia’s trip, saying that the easiest thing would have been to cancel the visit given that going to China at this time was bound to be criticized and potentially harm the party.
Hsia is visiting China with the aim of helping address issues facing China-based Taiwanese compatriots, students and businesspeople, and to solve problems encountered by small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers and fishers, Chu said.
He added that he hoped Hsia’s trip would help ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
“This is not for the party itself, but for the good of Taiwan,” Chu said.
Later yesterday, at a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting, Chu said that he had met with many visiting delegations from abroad, demonstrating that the KMT is pro-US, friendly to Japan and in harmony with China.
All of those relationships are indispensable, he said.
Chu said he always tells visitors that the KMT pursues a national security policy based on defense and dialogue.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said of the trip that if a communication channel can be established during Hsia’s visit, it would benefit Taiwan in the long run.
“Of course, the KMT will be criticized, but for Taiwan, this criticism should also be endured,” Ma said.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
RSS