Taipei and Beijing have yet to reach a consensus on the visitation rights of Taiwanese detained in China amid the planned establishment of cross-strait representative offices, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday, promising to seek breakthroughs on the issue.
While updating the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee about the progress made in setting up the offices, Wang said unlimited visitation rights for Taiwanese detained in China is an essential function of the nation’s planned representative office and the MAC would continue to negotiate with Beijing on the issue.
The creation of representative offices across the Taiwan Strait is a major cross-strait policy of the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). However, a draft bill on the plan failed to pass an initial legislative review amid resistance by the opposition, while some KMT lawmakers also voiced dissatisfaction with the negotiations.
Ma yesterday defended the creation of the representative offices as a practical plan amid increasing cross-strait exchanges, adding that there was no political motive behind the plan.
“The timing and conditions are ripe for the two sides to set up representative offices. There are no political implications to the plan and the functions of the offices will be basically neutral,” Ma said.
Insisting that setting up offices on each side of the Taiwan Strait is mutually beneficial, the president urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to address the issue rationally.
“The DPP also talked about cross-strait exchanges and Chinese tourists when it was in power and it will have to address the issue again one day if it returns to power again… The nation must move forward and the opposition should join our effort to push the creation of the offices,” he said.
The MAC said Taiwan plans to set up three representative offices in China, but that it is unlikely to allow Beijing to set up 10 offices in Taiwan.
The establishment of the cross-strait representative offices has drawn criticism from the opposition. DPP lawmakers say the move could damage the nation’s sovereignty, adding that China could use the offices as a channel for intelligence gathering.
Ma yesterday reiterated that the government would adhere to the Constitution when establishing the offices and his administration would not acknowledge the existence of the People’s Republic of China as an independent nation.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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