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MAC rejects 10 Shanghai delegation members from attending Taipei forum.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) confirmed Friday that the entry applications of 10 people in the 102-member Shanghai delegation set to attend the Twin-City Forum next week in Taipei had been rejected.
Those unable to attend the 15th Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum on Dec. 17 include Jin Mei (金梅), the newly appointed director of the Shanghai Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office, and nine Chinese reporters, the local Chinese-language newspaper United Daily News reported earlier in the day.
The MAC told the media that after China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) announced a new set of guidelines targeting “diehard Taiwan independence separatists,” cross-strait exchanges have been “severely disrupted” and Taiwanese people in China face safety risks.
“The Taiwanese government cannot remain indifferent,” the MAC said, adding that it had “strictly reviewed” the entry applications of key Chinese officials handling cross-strait affairs.
“This serves as an expression of protest and dissatisfaction, while also demanding [the Chinese authorities engage in] direct dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected government,” it added.
The MAC said it had not determined the presence of the nine Chinese reporters to be necessary given there are currently eight Chinese media outlets with 12 stationed reporters in Taiwan, “which is deemed sufficient.”
The MAC added that it has to take the “overall situation” of cross-strait relations into account when assessing certain “special-case applications,” especially given China’s increasing political and military coercion against Taiwan.
Earlier Friday, before the MAC had confirmed the rejections, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) called the decision regrettable and emphasized a need for confidence in Taiwan’s democratic resilience.
Chiang, who took office in late 2022, said that the Taipei delegation had been warmly received and treated well during his visit to Shanghai last year. He said he hoped to extend the same hospitality to the 102-member Shanghai delegation this year.
The Twin-City Forum has been held annually since 2010, with the two cities taking turns hosting.
This year, the Shanghai delegation will be led by Hua Yuan (華源), one of the city’s eight deputy mayors, with representatives of the two cities expected to sign memorandums of understanding on smart medical care and zoo animal exchanges.
(Focus Taiwan)