Taipei to host Shanghai delegation in rare high-level visit
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Taipei will host a rare high-level Chinese delegation from Dec 16 to 17 when it arrives for the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum, which was first held in 2010.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TAIPEI – Taiwan’s capital will host a rare high-level Chinese delegation later in December when a deputy mayor of Shanghai visits for an annual city forum amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Shanghai Vice-Mayor Hua Yuan will visit from Dec 16 to Dec 17 for the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum, which was first held in 2010, Taipei city government spokesman Yin Wei told reporters on Dec 4.
“This year is the 15th time it will be held, and 45 memorandums of understanding have been held in the past, which is a very good result for city exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he added.
China’s official Xinhua news agency confirmed that the forum would take place in Taipei in 2024.
“Cross-strait city exchanges are conducive to enhancing the affinity and well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and promoting the peaceful development of relations,” it said in a brief report.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an is from the main opposition Kuomintang party, which traditionally favours close ties across the strait and dialogue though denies being pro-Beijing.
Mr Chiang is a rising star in the party and widely considered a future presidential candidate.
He visited Shanghai in 2023 for the same city forum.
China, which claims the democratically governed island as its territory, has been carrying out military activities near Taiwan, including regularly sending fighter jets into the air space around it.
Taiwan’s government has pushed to reopen talks with China but Beijing refuses to engage with President Lai Ching-te, calling him a “separatist”.
Mr Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. REUTERS
