Chinese envoy visits Taiwan amid protests

“Such forums should be attended by the mayors of both cities for various exchanges. Therefore if (Ko) meets with a United Front Work department official, it would be on an unequal footing,” said Chou Ni-an, a member of the national legislature representing the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

“This is wrong. We don’t need to endorse China’s United Front Work,” Chou said.

Also Monday, Taiwan started an annual five-day live-fire military exercise designed to test its armed forces’ ability to defend against Chinese attacks. For the first time, this years’ Han Kuang No. 32 exercise will include information technology specialists working to fend off simulated cyberattacks.

Tsai is scheduled to observe drills on Thursday in the southern county of Pingtung and deliver a speech.

China claims Taiwan is its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Tsai’s election upended Beijing’s strategy of using economic inducements to convince Taiwanese that political unification is not only inevitable but also in their best interests.

Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party holds a strong legislative majority and favours Taiwan’s formal independence from China, although she has taken no steps toward that goal.

Despite that, her refusal to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation prompted Beijing to suspend the liaison contacts days after her inauguration, in an attempt to ratchet up pressure on her.

Although China says Taiwan has been part of its territory since ancient times, the two sides have only been unified for four of the past 120 years, splitting most recently amid the Chinese civil war in 1949. Taiwan does not acknowledge Beijing’s claim of authority over it, while surveys show an overwhelming majority of Taiwanese favour maintaining their current state of de-facto independence.

During Sha’s visit, the sides are expected to sign co-operation agreements between city districts, film festivals and marathon races.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Chinese envoy visits Taiwan amid protests

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