China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) was joined by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) at a cross-strait Lunar New Year event in Xiamen, China yesterday.
TAO posted photos of Chen and Song together at a Lunar New Year cross-strait cultural event in the city in Fujian Province, wearing red scarves along with other attendees.
“I was very touched. Chinese culture is so great,” Chen said in an interview with Chinese media about a performance by young Chinese and Taiwanese students who played guitar and performed martial arts.
Photo: Screen grab from Taiwan Affairs Office’s “Chinese Taiwan” Web site
The event was held by Chinese authorities, which Taiwanese businesspeople and residents in Fujian, as well as Kinmen locals, were invited to participate.
It featured Southern Min folk traditions, traditional cuisine and cultural heritage performances.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently announced that Fujian and Shanghai residents can visit Taipei as part of tourist groups, Chen told the Strait Herald.
Fujian residents are already allowed to visit Kinmen, which has significantly helped the development of the island’s industries, she said.
The Mainland Affairs Council should “catch this ball” by continuing to welcome Chinese tourists, she added.
Chen went to China after the central government budget was passed, joining Song in Xiamen to celebrate the Lunar New Year yesterday.
Chen, who told Taiwan’s cultural industry to “throw away the bowl they use to beg for food” when she proposed cutting the Ministry of Culture’s entire NT$2.309 billion (US$70.15 million) budget allocated for the Public Television Service, was criticized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) as “begging” in China.
“Doesn’t she feel sorry about Taiwan? What is she celebrating?” Wang said, adding that the KMT was praised by the TAO for its budget cuts proposal and accusing the party of “bullying” Taiwan.
Wang said Chen is a Taiwanese legislator whose salary is paid by Taiwanese taxpayers, asking “did she speak up for Taiwan? Or does she recognize China as her motherland?”
Chen was joined by Kinmen County Deputy Commissioner Li Wen-liang (李文良), Kinmen County Council Speaker Hung Yun-tien (洪允典) and representatives of clansmen associations and community groups of Kinmen as they attended a dinner party with Chinese officials.
Song was visiting Taiwanese companies in Shenzhen and Xiamen from Tuesday to yesterday.
At the cultural event, Song said he hopes that Taiwanese “compatriots” would adhere to the “one China principle” and the “1992 consensus,” and firmly oppose Taiwanese independence.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait should work together to expand cross-strait cooperation, promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and expand integration, Song said.
Nearly 400 Taiwanese businesspeople and residents in China participated in Lunar New Year activities in Shenzhen and Xiamen, according to a report from China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
Officials from Guangdong and Xiamen also participated, the report said.
Taiwanese participants offered advice on helping Taiwanese businesses accelerate improvements, sharing opportunities from China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” and strengthening cross-strait industrial cooperation, the report said.
They expressed their commitment to firmly developing themselves in China, actively engaging in cross-strait economic cooperation and integrated development, it said.
They would adhere to the “1992 consensus,” oppose “Taiwan independence,” and promote cross-strait exchanges to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the report said.
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