Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that a forum he will attend in Hong Kong this weekend will focus on policy research, not political dialogue.
The forum, titled “Symposium on Cross-Strait Relations: Development and Innovation,” will take place on Saturday and Sunday, Hsieh told a press conference.
He said the forum would bring together Chinese academics on cross-strait relations from Shanghai, Beijing and Xiamen, among other places.
Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Deputy Director Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) would also attend, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said he will give a speech at the event.
DPP legislators Chen Chiech-Ju (陳節如), Lee Ying-Yuan (李應元), Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), former DPP legislator Kuo Cheng-liang (郭正亮) and National Chengchi University professor Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) attended the press conference.
Tung and Kuo are also to attend the forum, Hsieh said.
Saying cross-strait communications have become imbalanced since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office, Hsieh said they should not become the sole domain of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Why did the just signed cross-strait service trade agreement encounter so much opposition from Taiwanese … Because the CCP and the KMT are biased, and the KMT government only listens to the voice of big business, not the voice of the public,” Hsieh said.
The forum will provide an opportunity to discuss the real differences between China and Taiwan, Hsieh said.
The former premier said he is scheduled to visit Phoenix Hong Kong Channel and Taiwanese business people in Shenzhen, China, after the forum.
The forum is another attempt by Hsieh to foster closer DPP-CCP ties since he became the first senior DPP politician to visit China in October last year.
Hsieh, a moderate on China policy, has been advocating a “two sides, two constitutions (兩岸兩憲) initiative,” saying that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be able to recognize the legitimacy of each other’s constitutions and strengthen bilateral ties.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS