Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to refrain from opposing anything relating to China, saying a planned meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) would help ameliorate cross-strait hostility.
Chu made the remarks during a visit to KMT legislative candidate Chen Shu-huey’s (陳淑慧) campaign headquarters in Tainan.
The Presidential Office on Tuesday evening confirmed an exclusive report in the Liberty Times, (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) that said Ma and Xi have agreed to an unprecedented meeting on Saturday in Singapore.
Photo: CNA
The meeting would be the first official meeting between the leaders of the two sides across the Taiwan Strait since the then-ROC government’s retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after they were defeated by Chinese Communist Party forces in the Chinese Civil War.
“Endeavors have been made to set up a meeting between Ma and Xi for two years. President Ma has informed me that such a meeting has been agreed to. This is a significant milestone in the development of a mechanism to promote cross-strait peace and mutual trust,” Chu said.
Chu, who replaced Ma as KMT chairman after the party’s landslide defeat in the nine-in-one elections last year, said the meeting would not only bring relations based on the “1992 consensus” to the next level, but also help reduce animosity between the sides.
“It also bodes well for cross-strait negotiations on the proposed trade in goods agreement and the government’s much-anticipated proposal to allow Chinese traveling by plane to transit in Taiwan en route to other nations,” he said.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Despite former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi’s (蘇起) subsequent admission in 2006 that the consensus was a term he made up in 2000, it has been the KMT’s cornerstone for engaging with China.
Describing the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) characterization of the Ma-Xi summit as “sneaky and secretive,” Chu said the Presidential Office is to hold an international press conference today to brief the public on the president’s schedule.
“The pan-green camp is urged not to take issue with anything regarding China. This concerns the development and stability of cross-strait ties and there must not be any political manipulation involved,” Chu said.
Asked whether the closely-watched meeting would have any impact on his upcoming seven-day visit to the US, Chu said the landmark summit between the two leaders is a scheduled event, while he is set to depart for the US on Tuesday next week.
Chu said he is to visit four cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, New York and San Francisco, where he is set to meet with US government officials and Taiwanese expatriates.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS