Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday said that an upcoming bilateral city-level summit with Shanghai in China would focus on technology, innovation, water management and vocational training.
The Taipei-Shanghai City Summit, scheduled for Dec. 27 to 28, would be held under the principles of equality, dignity, goodwill and reciprocity, Chiang told a Taipei City Council meeting.
Over the past 15 years, the annual summit has focused on municipal exchanges and produced concrete results, Chiang said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) reviewed the city’s application in accordance with regulations, noting that the event does not involve politics or the central government, he added.
The summit would only run for two days because scheduling was challenging, as it is the end of the year and the council is reviewing the budget, leaving limited time available for the summit, Chiang said.
More details about the annual meeting would be released to the public once additional administrative arrangements are finalized, the Taipei City Government said in a statement.
In a separate statement, the MAC said that there were no rules about the length of the summit, and the Taipei City Government’s decision to hold it over two days was based on its own considerations and unrelated to the political climate.
The summit should focus on municipal exchanges, any changes to the originally approved schedule must be communicated in advance and no agreements may be signed without prior approval from the central government, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
Two memoranda of understanding are scheduled to be signed during the summit; one on water management and another on vocational training, Liang said.
The annual city forum is the only platform for direct exchanges between officials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Last year, the event was held in Taipei.
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