The reasons behind the abrupt postponement of the annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum earlier this month were that the two sides could not agree on the content of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and that Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) refused to mention the so-called “1992 consensus” in his remarks, an official familiar with the matter said yesterday.
After the forum, which was scheduled to be held in Shanghai on Thursday last week, had been abruptly postponed, some Taiwanese businesspeople in China asked Chinese officials about the reason, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The businesspeople were told that the MOU revised by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had not met the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) demands, and Chiang had been unwilling to mention the “1992 consensus” in his speech at the forum, so the CCP called a halt to the event, they said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The official said that when the council reviewed the two MOUs that the two cities planned to sign, it found one contravened 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), so it on Sept. 19 asked the Taipei City Government to revise it.
The MOU involved labor brokerage, promoting and arranging Taiwanese to work in China, which contravened articles 34 and 35 of the act, so the council asked relevant clauses to be removed, the official said.
“The forum is for exchanges between the cities and their municipal policies, and the central government did not instruct the Taipei City Government to negotiate with China,” they said.
Vocational training certification and issuing other related certifications are under the government’s authority, but the MOU used ambiguous wording regarding its purview, so the MAC had to remove such content, they added.
From the CCP’s perspective, signing a revised MOU would not have been in its interest if a delegation led by Chiang had visited China without him mentioning that “people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese,” as well as the “1992 consensus” or that “both sides of the Strait are one family,” the official said.
Attending the forum could give publicity to Chiang, helping him build up his personal brand, but when he refused to mention the “1992 consensus,” the trip would only become an arena for him to show off his charm, they said, adding that it would not contribute to the CCP’s “united front” work, so the party just postponed the forum indefinitely.
“The CCP is not holding the forum to promote Chiang,” the official said.
On the other hand, the Taipei City Government wants to deal with the issue carefully and protect Chiang’s reputation, they said.
The council’s revision of the MOUs was not the only reason behind the forum’s postponement, as there were also disagreements over what Chiang would say at the forum, they said, adding that government critics should not blame the delay on the MAC.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS