The Yunlin and Kinmen county commissioners have applied to attend the 16th Straits Forum in China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday, urging them to comply with Taiwan’s regulations on cross-strait exchanges.
The government prohibits personnel from ministries and their affiliated units from attending the Straits Forum, which would be held in China’s Xiamen city on Saturday next week, MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
However, the MAC has received applications from the two local government officials — Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善) and Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海) — seeking to attend the forum, he added.
Photo: Wu Shu-wei, Taipei Times
Chang and Chen are from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party respectively.
“We are not happy to see it [their applications], but the central government will not obstruct it,” Liang said.
From the central government’s perspective, it is not favorable to see personnel from the local governments joining such a forum, he added.
On Thursday evening, Chang said the tense cross-strait relations over the past few years have affected many industries in Taiwan, and that she hoped to promote dialogue and exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait by participating in the forum.
The Yunlin County Government said Chang has reported to the central government according to regulations and received approval, and she would take leave from Friday next week for the two-day trip.
During the trip she would comply with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and related regulations, the county government said.
County commissioners or mayors “shall apply for permission to enter into the Mainland Area [China],” with their applications to be reviewed and approved by a committee formed by several ministries and agencies, including the MAC, the act states.
The government’s stance on the forum remains consistent, seeing it as “a platform for united front work by the Chinese Communist Party,” and prohibiting any agencies, individuals, groups, and political parties from joining any form of activities related to the so-called “one country, two systems solution for Taiwan” or “democratic consultation,” Liang said.
Liang urged those who would attend the forum to comply with the act and related regulations, saying they must not engage in illegal cooperation or form alliances with Chinese authorities.
The Straits Forum, an annual conference between China and Taiwan, started in 2009.
Last year’s forum was organized by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and the government of China’s Fujian Province, in collaboration with 82 cross-strait organizations, according to a press release by the TAO in June last year.
The theme of this year’s forum is “Expanding Civil Exchanges, Deepening Integrated Development,” according to the organizing committee of the 16th Straits Forum, which has said that the event would include four major activities focusing on grassroots activities, youth, cultural and economic exchanges.
The National Police Agency’s Third Special Police Corps yesterday said that from May to July, it intercepted five smuggling operations from China, seizing more than 70,000 counterfeit Beyblades with an estimated infringement value of NT$34.45 million (US$1.08 million). It added that any bootleg unit that reached the local market could present hidden health hazards to players. Beyblades, a line of spinning toy tops used in competitive gaming and developed in Japan by toy company Takara Tomy, have become popular in Taiwan, making them a target for fraudsters. The Third Special Police Corps, dedicated to safeguarding maritime borders and trade lines,
Five customers who made purchases at 7-Eleven stores across Taiwan won the top NT$10 million (US$313,716) special prize in the July-August uniform invoice lottery, including one who spent just NT$27 on photocopying, the convenience store chain said today. The five special prize winners made their purchases at stores in Taoyuan, Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, 7-Eleven operator President Chain Store Corp said. The five winning purchases included NT$29 spent on snacks at a store in Taoyuan's Zhongli District (中壢), NT$27 on photocopying at a store in Taipei's Zhongzheng District (中正), NT$139 on City Cafe coffee and daily necessities at a store in Taipei's
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) reportedly cut short his visit to the National Archives in Washington after the Chinese delegation objected to plans to view the Treaty of San Francisco, sources in Washington’s media circles said. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), concluded their three-day state visit to the US on Friday after having tea with US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the White House and visiting the archives. Chinese democracy advocates and members of pro-China groups gathered outside the venue during Xi’s visit, with the two groups exchanging competing slogans while police kept them separated. The US
TRICKY ISSUE: Taiwan’s defense of the ROC in WWII could conflict with the government’s narrative on Taiwanese history and identity, an academic said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had no standing to discuss US-China relations in World War II (WWII), as the People’s Republic of China did not exist at that time, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) said yesterday. Taipei would ensure that Washington has a clear understanding that it was the Republic of China (ROC), not the People’s Republic of China (PRC), that was a steadfast ally of the US in WWII, Shen said. Shen was referring to a White House fact sheet released on Friday about Xi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington. It said that “the two
RSS