Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday said she would not attend a luncheon with Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) as part of the Chinese envoy’s tour of the south tomorrow.
The rejection of the invitation by host E United Group could undermine the chances of an informal meeting between Chen Yunlin and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) municipality heads, who do not oppose the visit.
The decision by Chen Chu, who said the private gathering was unrelated to her official duties, could have been the result of pressure from pro-independence groups opposed to the meeting.
Supporters of the groups, who have promised to rally hundreds on Greater Kaohsiung streets tomorrow, said on Monday that politicians willing to meet Chen Yunlin should be ready to be “washed in eggs.”
If Chen Chu meets the Chinese envoy, “we should be ready to serve [her] rotten eggs,” said Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), head of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan, the group involved in organizing the protests.
Former Kaohsiung County commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) is expected to take part in the dinner, held at Eda World, the tourist complex where Chen Yunlin will be staying, along with dozens of executives and local politicians, including municipal council speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源).
Chen Chu said she did not rule out meeting Chen Yunlin at another venue, such as the cross-strait economic forum being organized by Greater Kaohsiung officials to coincide with Chen Yunlin’s overnight visit. It was not known whether Chen Chu or Chen Yunlin would attend the forum, for which officials said more than 20 senior executives had already signed up.
Chen Yunlin is scheduled to arrive in Taipei today before embarking on a three-day visit to Greater Kaohsiung and Chiayi City as well as Chiayi and Yunlin counties.
Greater Tainan was earlier dropped from the schedule.
The Straits Exchange Foundation has defined the trip as an economic visit focusing on building ties between cross-strait businesses. The Chinese envoy, who will reportedly be accompanied by 30 Chinese industrialists, will visit factories, economic zones and ports over the week.
Despite a welcoming statement given by the DPP municipalities, more than 100 protesters have pledged to tail Chen Yunlin during all parts of his visit to express their opposition against deepening cross-strait economic ties.
The DPP said it would not endorse the protests, which will be led by the Southern Taiwan Society, One Side One Country Alliance and the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan.
DPP officials have nevertheless called on law enforcement agencies to show restraint and allow the protests to proceed.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
The military detected a record 153 Chinese military aircraft around the nation, the Ministry of National Defense announced today, after China held a day of large-scale drills yesterday. The aircraft were spotted in the 25-hour period until 6am today, the ministry said in a statement — the most for a single day. Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard boats to encircle Taiwan yesterday, with Taiwan responding by dispatching "appropriate forces" and placing its outlying islands on heightened alert. The ministry typically records the numbers of Chinese warplanes and warships operating around Taiwan in 24-hour periods from 6am to 6am the
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any