Shanghai is to send a lower-level delegation to the Taipei Lantern Festival this year, after an application for the head of the city’s Taiwan Affairs Office to attend last year’s festival was rejected, the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported today.
The Shanghai City Government is hosting a display at the Taipei Lantern Festival again this year, which opens this evening.
Shanghai Taiwan Affairs Office Director Jin Mei (金梅) had applied to visit Taiwan to attend the opening of the festival last year, but the Mainland Affairs Council rejected the application, citing insufficient review time.
Photo: Tsai Kai-heng, Taipei Times
This year, the Shanghai City Government lowered the level of its delegation, instead sending a group led by the director of the office’s liaison division, Xu Hao (徐皓), the Liberty Times reported.
The delegation is scheduled to arrive today and stay for three days, it said.
Xu also led Shanghai’s delegation to the 2024 Taipei Lantern Festival.
The Liberty Times also reported controversy with the layout of the displays, quoting visitors as questioning why the Shanghai display was featured prominently near the entrance to Taipei Expo Park rather than with the other cities and countries in the “Friendship Display Area.”
Additional reporting by Tsai Kai-heng
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