Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) met with Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), the party said yesterday, after KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) earlier in the day said that no such meetings would take place without first informing the public.
After a KMT think tank event, Chu said that Hsia would not meet with Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Liu Jieyi (劉結一) during his visit to China.
Chu was responding to media reports saying that Hsia was rumored to meet with high-level Chinese officials this week.
If Hsia meets with any high-level Chinese officials, the details of those meetings would be made public beforehand, Chu said.
Hsia embarked on a trip to China to meet with Taiwanese businesspeople there on Aug. 10, immediately after Beijing held unprecedented live-fire drills around Taiwan after a visit to the nation by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Hsia’s trip has drawn criticism not only from the Democratic Progressive Party, but also from within the KMT.
Chu said the reports were not accurate, adding that Hsia would say and do what is necessary in China based on the position of the Republic of China and Taiwanese.
Regarding criticism from within his party, Chu defended Hsia’s trip, saying that the easiest thing would have been to cancel the visit given that going to China at this time was bound to be criticized and potentially harm the party.
Hsia is visiting China with the aim of helping address issues facing China-based Taiwanese compatriots, students and businesspeople, and to solve problems encountered by small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers and fishers, Chu said.
He added that he hoped Hsia’s trip would help ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
“This is not for the party itself, but for the good of Taiwan,” Chu said.
Later yesterday, at a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting, Chu said that he had met with many visiting delegations from abroad, demonstrating that the KMT is pro-US, friendly to Japan and in harmony with China.
All of those relationships are indispensable, he said.
Chu said he always tells visitors that the KMT pursues a national security policy based on defense and dialogue.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said of the trip that if a communication channel can be established during Hsia’s visit, it would benefit Taiwan in the long run.
“Of course, the KMT will be criticized, but for Taiwan, this criticism should also be endured,” Ma said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
RSS