The annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum started this morning at the Regent Taipei Hotel, with leaders calling for continued exchanges to promote peace, stability and mutual trust.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) and Shanghai Vice Mayor Hua Yuan (華源) in their addresses spoke about the mutual benefits of exchanges and tourism between the two cities.
The Chinese delegation also brought gifts including a “Taiwan Compatriots Service Manual” for attendees.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The forum’s theme this year is “intelligent governance and a sustainable future.”
A total of 45 memoranda of understanding are to be signed during the forum, covering topics such as animal welfare, sports, arts, culture and civil exchanges, Lin said.
She also touted the forum as a stable mechanism for dialogue, despite shortcomings in current cross-strait relations.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
This is the first time the forum is being held in Taipei since the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
More than 500,000 Taiwanese have recently visited Shanghai, of whom 250,000 were young people and 100,000 were first-time visitors, Hua said.
Many people view Shanghai as a second hometown, he said, inviting more Taipei residents to visit his city and vice-versa.
Meanwhile, outside the hotel, members of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Green Party, New Power Party, Taiwan Society North and World United Formosans for Independence held a news conference to protest the forum.
The groups questioned why Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) invited the Shanghai officials, despite increased military tensions in the Taiwan Strait and recent incursions by aircraft and naval vessels.
Citizens should have a clear sense of the enemy and not hold unrealistic expectations of China, TSP Chairman Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said.
The protest is a way of telling China that Taiwan does not accept the idea of unification by force and communicates to the international community that it would stand firm in its defense, Wang added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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