Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi yesterday led a delegation of 17 KMT lawmakers to Beijing for a three-day visit, aiming to foster peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait.
The trip represents the voice of Taiwanese and the largest party in the legislature, Fu said before departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
“The peace-thawing journey aims to restore the interrupted cross-strait relations of the past eight years. Peace is needed across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
In addition to easing cross-strait tensions, the visit seeks to enhance two-way tourism and facilitate exports of agricultural and fishery products to China, he said.
The delegation would also seek to help revitalize Hualien County’s economy after it was struck by a quake measuring magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale earlier this month, Fu said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said that the lawmakers would visit a factory of Xiaomi Auto, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Beijing, and a driverless vehicle demonstration park today.
Sources in Beijing said that the delegation is to attend a meeting today with Chinese officials, potentially including TAO Director Song Tao (宋濤) or Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧).
Tomorrow, the delegation is to participate in activities held by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, and the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the sources said.
The delegation would hold discussions with young Taiwanese and Taiwanese business representatives later that day, the sources said.
The trip is being closely watched ahead of president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) warning the delegation “not to step on the red lines of democracy and national security,” with particular reference to the provisions of the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法).
The DPP also called on Chinese authorities to conduct exchanges with Taiwan’s democratically elected and legitimate government instead of “engaging in private negotiations with the opposition party under political preconditions.”
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Thursday said that the DPP’s misguided cross-strait policies are the source of increased cross-strait and regional tensions.
This is not a situation that Taiwan’s international partners and neighbors want to see, Chu said, adding that the KMT has repeatedly urged the DPP government to resume dialogue across the Strait.
“Maintaining the status quo is the majority consensus of the Taiwanese public,” he said.
Chu made the remarks in a meeting with a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) delegation, during which they exchanged opinions on issues concerning cross-strait relations, national security and rising tensions in the region.
The KMT will continue to adhere to the two “Ds” — Defense and Dialogue — as the foundation of its cross-strait policy, which seeks to encourage dialogue while enhancing Taiwan’s national defense, he said.
The DPP’s “nuclear zero by 2025” policy is directly to blame for introducing risks that might endanger Taiwan’s high-technology and industrial sectors, he added, citing the recent power outages in Taoyuan as an example.
The KMT will stand with international partners with whom Taiwan shares like-minded values to bring stability and peace to the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, he said.
Thanking the Washington-based CSIS for its long-standing support of Taiwan, Chu said that the KMT appreciated the institute’s abiding friendship with the party.
The KMT has always followed the policy of “showing an affinity toward the US, pursuing friendship with Japan and making peace with China,” he added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to