The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said that it has approved an application by the Taipei City Government to invite Shanghai’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Deputy Director Li Xiaodong (李驍東) for a visit on Saturday.
The visit would be the first by a Shanghai official in three years, as person-to-person interactions had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Taipei and Shanghai are sister cities.
It is not yet known whether Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) would personally meet with Li.
The Taipei City Government said that it would observe all government regulations, ensure that the visiting group is low-key, keep the visit simple and not make any political statements.
The MAC said the government has yet to allow Chinese individuals to visit Taiwan for professional interactions and that all applications by Chinese to enter Taiwan are carefully reviewed.
It said that after conferring with the Taipei City Government, it has decided that the city’s application meets all required criteria.
The application was approved following a review by the Central Epidemic Command Center, it added.
The MAC said the Shanghai delegation would visit the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taipei and exchange opinions on city governance with the Taipei City Government.
It called on the Taipei City Government to make the group’s itinerary open and transparent.
It said that the Taipei City Government should also take precautions to guarantee the delegation’s safety, while ensuring that the group observes the regulations and respects the local culture.
The MAC said any interactions should be rational and equal, and based on mutual respect.
The government supports cross-strait exchanges that comply with Taiwan’s laws and do not have overt political connotations, it added.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS