China’s policy toward Taiwan is to focus in the future on being “closer to the people” as evidenced by the tone of this week’s visit to Taiwan by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Taiwan Studies director Zhou Zhihuai (周志懷) said.
Zhou was referring to Zhang’s attempts to mingle with ordinary Taiwanese, including people at nursing homes and nursery schools during his visit.
Zhang’s itinerary clearly underscored a desire to inject a “common touch” into cross-strait ties, Zhou said, and he expected Beijing’s Taiwan policy to adopt the theme of “two sides of the Taiwan Strait being one close family.”
A mainstream element of that approach would be moving “closer to the people,” Zhou said at a forum in Beijing on Friday that was held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the institute, regarded in China as a key think tank on Taiwan.
The academic said the forum was being held “at a special time,” with Zhang’s trip to Taiwan reciprocating an earlier visit to China by Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) in February.
Zhou described the cross-strait trip as “sailing against the current” to achieve new breakthroughs.
Yet as Zhang is trying to portray a more conciliatory image on his trip, he has been shadowed by protesters wherever he has gone, reflecting the unease many Taiwanese and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) feel about closer ties with China.
The DPP has vehemently opposed deals that would bring the two economies closer, such as the service trade pact signed in June last year, which remains stalled in the Legislative Yuan.
Zhou said the DPP, before it could regain power, needed to examine its resistance to the services pact, a bill on overseeing cross-strait pacts and legislation on setting up free economic pilot zones.
Chao Chien-min (趙健民), a former MAC deputy minister, said at the forum that Zhang’s visit showed that China is attaching more importance to appealing directly to public opinion in promoting cross-strait ties.
Yet he acknowledged that there remains a lack of mutual trust on both sides, including controversies over the so-called “1992 consensus” and the “one China” framework.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS