Taiwan former legislative speaker's possible visit to mainland 'icebreaking': expert
by Xu Keyue
Taiwan Photo: Unsplash
While a US official's possible visit to the island of Taiwan is being condemned for challenging China's bottom line and aggravating disputes, Taiwan's former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng is reportedly scheduled to head for the Chinese mainland for a cross-Straits forum, over which experts expressed positive expectations and said the forum could be "icebreaking" for current cross-Straits relations.
According to Taiwan media, Wang is to lead the Kuomintang (KMT) delegation to this year's Straits Forum in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province which will kick off on September 19.
The KMT said in a statement that amid the cross-Straits tensions, given the experience and reputation of former speaker Wang, he would surely be able to effectively convey Taiwan people's concerns about the cross-Straits situation to the mainland, and promote understanding across the Straits, media said.
Given the anti-mainland stance of the separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, which has been heightened due to its frequent interactions with the US, including US Undersecretary of State Keith Krach's upcoming visit to the island, mainland residents' goodwill toward Taiwan is declining rapidly, mainland observers said, noting the KMT delegation's possible visit serves as a precious opportunity for the mainland and rational voices in the Taiwan island to communicate.
Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan from Nankai University in Tianjin, told the Global Times on Sunday that the significance of Wang's possible visit needs to be recognized.
As a senior powerful politician on the island, Wang's visit amid the tensions could make the event "icebreaking" for the cross-Straits situation, Li said.
Some 30 events concerning epidemic control, culture, economics and youth exchange will take place during this year's forum.
In contrast to Wang's possible visit that many observers on the mainland are expecting, Krach's possible visit to the island is slammed as a dangerous provocation that further pushes regional stability to the edge amid the US' frequent military provocations in the region.
Taiwan media reported that the island is advancing economic dialogue and ties with the US, and may restart negotiations on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. Krach is in charge of economic growth, energy, and environment affairs.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar visited the island in August and signed some cooperation documents.
Ni Feng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the US official's visit will definitely further escalate China-US tensions, a strategy the Trump administration is using for the election by "playing the Taiwan card" and hyping anti-China power in the US to win more votes.
The mainland should remain calm and be cautious over being tied down by tricks and wisely deal with the Taiwan question, mainland analysts said, noting that rational forces in the island should not be fooled by the US who only uses Taiwan as a chess piece and will mercilessly abandon it when the situation changes.
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