PEOPLE & POINTS

<正>CHU TAKES CHARGEEric Chu,Mayor of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan,took office as chairman of the island’s ruling Kuomintang(KMT)on January 19 after winning a landslide victory in the party leadership election.In recent years,the KMT has promoted relations between Taiwan and the mainland in keeping with the principles of"peaceful development,mutual benefit and win-win results,"     

Extraordinary Times

Meeting between leaders of the Communist Party of China and Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung marked a new phase in cross-straits cooperation Three years ago in late April,then Kuomintang(KMT)Chairman Lien Chan landed on the mainland and held what came to be known as a"historic meeting"with     

CONTINUING EXCHANGES

正Xi-Hung meeting helps to promote peace and development across the Taiwan Straits By Yuan Yuan The mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing welcomed a new guest on October 31,as Hung Hsiu-chu,Chairperson of the Kuomintang(KMT),chose the capital city of Jiangsu Province as the first stop of her first visit to the Chinese mainland as the KMT leader.     

Cross-Straits Relations Redefined

<正>President Xi Jinping,in his capacity as general secretary of the Communist Party of China(CPC)Central Committee,met with Eric Chu,Chairman of the Kuomintang(KMT),the ruling party in Taiwan,in Beijing on May4.Given the factious history between the two parties,every meeting between them natural y attracts attention domestically and abroad.This was Xi’s first meeting with a KMT Chairman since taking office.Above all,talks between the CPC and the KMT,namely,between the Chinese mainland     

EMBRACING A NEW ERAOF COOPERATION OF COOPERATION

On May 4, Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu met with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) entral Committee Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, making Chu another sitting KMT chairman to set foot on the mainland since 1949, when the KMT fled in exile to China’s eastern isle of Taiwan after their defeat at the hands of the CPC-led forces.     

FOCUS

Dialogue Begins between Chinese Communist Party and Kuomintang Vice Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) Jiang Bingkun paid an historic visit to the Chinese mainland on March 29, leading a delegation of 30 KMT members. The visit was the first of a high-ranking KMT delegation since the KMT moved to Taiwan 56 years ago. Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, held talks with the delegation. "It was Vice Chairman     

A Question of Principle

正Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Communist Party of China(CPC)Central Committee,met a delegation led by Hung Hsiu-chu,leader of the Kuomintang(KMT)party,on November 1.This is the first time that Xi has met a party delegation from Taiwan since the Democratic Progressive Party(DPP)came to powerthere in May.Xi's statement during the meeting empha-     

PEOPLE & POINTS

Held Hostage by Politicized Pandas Giant pandas became the preferred option when the Communist Party of China, on behalf of the people on China's mainland, considered sending a gift of goodwill to Taiwan during former Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan's 2005 cross-strait visit. But Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian said his authorities would rather not give the pandas permission to enter the island, citing     

''''I''''m Clean,'''' Says Taiwan Party Leader

Taiwan’s opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigned from his post chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) on February 13, shortly after being accus misusing a mayoral allowance.     

Winds of Change Blow in Taiwan

Researcher Peng Weixue from the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,and also Executive Editor in Chief of Taiwan Weekly,a publication affiliated to the research institute,comments on the outcome of the recently concluded"legislature"election in Taiwan and its impacts on relations across the Taiwan Straits.     

Strait Stance

Despite rebukes against pro-independence Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's move to disrupt peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the mainland remains active in pushing forward links with the island. Sun Shengliang, a research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzes the mainland's stance and efforts in cross-strait relations. Following are excerpts of his article carried in the People's Daily Overseas Edition:     

BUILDING A SHIELD

正Lee Cheng-hung, President of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation site in Shanghai on April 19. The city started vaccinating Taiwan compatriots aged 18 to 75 that day. According to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Taiwan compatriots bearing residence permits or medical insurance certificates can register for vaccines in their place of residence based on the principles of voluntary application and informed consent, the same policy and procedure governing mainlanders.     

Taiwan＇s Indigenous Tribes Exhibition in Capital

The Exhibition of the History and Culture of Taiwan＇s Indigenous Tribes opened in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on December. 21, 2009. This, the first large-scale theme exhibit on China＇s mainland, is a systematic and comprehensive presentation of the history and culture of tribes indigenous to Taiwan.     

Crossing the Divide

After nine years, the Chinese mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation, two nongovernmental organizations authorized to engage in talks on issues related to exchanges across the Taiwan Straits, resumed talks in Beijing on June 12-13, reaching two important agreements. Weekend cross-straits charter flights and mainland tourists crossing the pond to visit Taiwan are now a reality. The breakthrough talks augur well for the development of relations across the Taiwan Straits and prompted Zhou Zhihuai, Deputy Director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, to make several observations on this significant step and the impact going forward, in an article published by China Review News, a Hong Kong-based news agency.     

Frontier of Cross-Straits Ties

正Fujian serves as a testing base in boosting economic exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan Magical Times Digital Technology Co. Ltd. is a top animation and cartoon company located in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Straits. In an effort to bring new ideas to the     

A Visit of Significance

Cross-straits interaction gains a strong boost from mainland envoy's historic Taiwan journey on November 3-7, Chen Yunlin, President of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) paid a five-day visit to Taiwan. He had talks with Chiang Pin-kung, Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), in Taipei and met with several senior politicians in the is- land. The ARATS and SEF also signed four agreements on direct shipping, air and postal services across the Taiwan Straits and food safety cooperation.     

The Taiwan Issue: China's Internal Affairs

TO know, in brief, the issue of Taiwan, oneshould revert to the history of Taiwan. TaiwanIsland is located to the east of Chinese mainlandfacing Fujian Province across the Taiwan Straits. In230 A.D. when Taiwan was a deserted island, twoChinese generals along with large numbers of sol-diers first arrived here and stayed. Since then Chi-nese people from the mainland have been stayinggenerations after generations. Taiwan has belongedto China since ancient times. In 1624, Holland in-vaded Taiwan and occupied it. In 1661 ZhengChenggong, an official of the Ming Dynasty, led astrong army and waged a war against the Dutch.After eight months war Zheng Chenggong defeatedthe Dutch, recovered Taiwan and founded an ad-ministrative organ there. Afterwards the government     

Two Conjuring Rain Cultures： One in Altai,One in Taiwan

Amagic Jada stone is an extremely rare calculus,or abnormal calcification,found only in one among ten thousand horse skulls. In days of old, Jadas were used to conjure up rain by ethnic peoples living in Altai, in Xinjiang, a region of northwest China To his surprise, the author found that the Pingpu people of Taiwan have a similar “conjuring rain culture.” In addition, other cultural relics show similarities between the two places. Such a coincidence leads to the author to speculate - could there be an ancient blood relationship between the inhabitants of Xinjiang in northwest China and Taiwan in southeast China-two communities separated by such a vast distance？     

Pilotingthe Future

<正>Fujian FTZ plays a key role in promoting cross-Straits cooperation and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative On May 19,7 tons of fruits from Taiwan worth$60,000 arrived in Pingtan port of Fujian Province,becoming the first shipment of Taiwan fruits to arrive at the China(Fujian)Pilot Free Trade Zone(FTZ).The whole inspection and quarantine process for the delivery took less than two hours.Pingtan is the nearest port to Taiwan,and the passage between the two loca-     

Walking on Thin Ice

正Lithuania,a country of less than 3 million people,has drawn international attention by playing the "Taiwan"card.Yet there was little time for Lithuania to indulge in the pleasures of basking in the global spotlight before the Baltic country bumped into strong countermeasures from the Chinese side.The offender here is the Lithuanian Government,which has allowed the Taiwan authorities to set up a "representative office" in Lithuania under the name "Taiwan"despite the Chinese Government's strong opposition.This is seen as a serious breach of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.On August 10,the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced its decision to recall China's ambassador to Lithuania and demand that the Lithuanian Government recall its ambas s ador to China.