MAC defends denying entry to Chinese official

• By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

• • Add TT as Preferred Source

  • 

  • 

  • 

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday defended its decision to deny entry to a senior official from the Shanghai Taiwan Affairs Office to attend the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum.

The council denied Shanghai Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Li Xiaodong’s (李驍東) entry. Li was scheduled to lead a delegation to attend the annual cross-strait event.

Instead, the council approved the entry of Wang Hao (王皓), a department head at the Chinese agency.

Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng, right, poses with Pop Radio talk show host Huang Wei-han yesterday.

Photo: Screenshot from Pop Radio’s livestream

Addressing the matter on a talk show on Pop Radio, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that while the forum is intended to address urban governance issues in the two localities, cross-strait affairs fall under the jurisdiction of the central government.

Taipei Department of Labor Commissioner Wang Chiu-tung (王秋冬), who works as a liaison for the event, said the council rejected Li’s entry by simply saying the decision was made “after taking all factors into consideration,” without providing further explanation.

The council “shows an arrogance of power” and “singles out the city for unfair treatment,” Wang Chiu-tung said.

Neither the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum nor the Sun Moon Lake-East Lake Forum between Taiwan’s Nantou County and Wuhan City in China’s Hubei Province can proceed without the approval and authorization of the central government, Chiu said.

“We hope that local government officials can conduct cross-strait exchange with their Chinese counterparts in a healthy and orderly fashion based on equality and dignity,” he said. “Forums should be about the exchange of city management issues, without any political preconditions.”

The council coordinated with the Ministry of the Interior to hold a joint review session of the Taipei-Shanghai forum ahead of the scheduled meeting, Chiu said.

“That does not mean that we should approve the entry of every person you invite,” he added.

The government has in principle banned directors and deputy directors of the Taiwan Affairs Office at the provincial and municipal levels from entering Taiwan after China issued its “22 guidelines” on punishing “Taiwanese independence separatists,” Chiu said, adding that the government has raised its travel advisory for China to “orange,” meaning that people should avoid nonessential travel to China.

The government would consider an exception when a Chinese official has a letter of recommendation issued by a Taiwanese business association in China, he said.

Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation has to determine whether they can be allowed entry as well, he said.

For example, the government allowed the Hangzhou City Taiwan Affairs Office deputy director to attend the forum in Nantou County last year because of a recommendation from a China-based Taiwanese businessperson, who said the official took good care of their family during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Chiu said.

That recommendation was accepted by the Straits Exchange Foundation, he added.

No Taiwanese businessperson vouched for Li, Chiu said.

The foundation is also unlikely to approve Li’s entry request because the Shanghai Taiwan Affairs Office has prevented Shanghai-based Taiwanese businesspeople from participating in foundation-organized activities in Taiwan, he said.