Beijing’s retaliation for the government’s approval of the visit of the Dalai Lama may not be as simple as suspending cross-strait exchanges, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the public must not simply look at the changes to cross-strait exchanges to judge the impact of the Buddhist leader’s visit because many elements must be factored in.
To suspend cross-strait exchanges was indeed one way for Beijing to express its frustration, Liu said, but the public must look at the whole picture before jumping to any conclusions.
Liu was responding to questions about the possible impact of the visit of the spiritual leader of the Tibetan government in exile. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to leave today.
Li Yafei (李亞飛), assistant minister of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Monday that Beijing’s position on the Dalai Lama’s visit was resolute and that the trip was bound to have an adverse effect on cross-strait ties.
Li did not elaborate, adding that Beijing would continue to monitor developments during the visit.
On the same day the Dalai Lama arrived, regular cross-strait flights were officially launched, but airlines in both China and Taiwan decided to ditch their inauguration ceremonies and events celebrating the launch of the regular flight services.
China also announced that it would not attend the opening ceremony of the Taipei Deaflympics, which will be held tomorrow.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), however, had been clear about the nature of the visit, which was religious and humanitarian, Liu said. So far, the visit seemed to meet those objectives, he said, adding that he hoped Beijing would notice this.
“We hope his visit will not have any negative impact on cross-strait relations,” Liu said. “We really don’t know whether it will, but we will continue to watch developments closely.”
Meanwhile, Tourism Bureau Director General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said yesterday the visit of the Dalai Lama had caused some tour groups from China to cancel their scheduled trips.
Lai said the secretary of Jiangsu Province’s Communist Party has yet to confirm a visit next month and that the secretary was planning to bring approximately 2,000 staff and tourists.
“We have no idea if the group is still planning to come,” Lai said.
The bureau had also planned a visit from a group of Chinese travel agents to scout potential travel routes, however it has been postponed.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY SHAN
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS