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Taiwan's government this week allowed the trip of six officials,
lead by Liu Xiaodong, deputy head of the Shanghai office of
China's Taiwan Affairs Office, to attend the Lantern Festival in
Taipei, at the invitation of the city government.
Liu, arriving at Taipei's downtown Songshan airport, did not
answer questions from reporters. His group was ushered into a
van under heavy security and driven away.
Around a dozen pro-Taiwan independence supporters protested his
arrival outside the airport, shouting "Taiwan and China,
separate countries" and "Chinese people, get out", while on the
airport road another small group of pro-China supporters shouted
their welcome.
Chilly Chen, head of the pro-independence Taiwan Republic
Office, told Reuters the Taiwanese people were very hospitable
and welcomed visitors but were concerned they were coming to
push Chinese policies on the democratic island.
"Everything China does is in the service of politics, and their
aim is definitely united front," Chen added, referring to the
name of China's policy to co-opt non-Communists and Taiwan's
people in particular.
Taiwan's China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said the
group has been allowed to come as long as they keep a low
profile and it hoped their visit would promote mutual
understanding and "healthy and orderly exchanges".
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, from the main opposition party the
Kuomintang which traditionally favours close relations with
China, told reporters they "very much welcomed" the delegation.
Arrangements for the group will follow the principles of
"low-key, simple, and secure" as set out by Taiwan's Mainland
Affairs Council, Chiang told reporters.
While China has refused to speak to Taiwan's government since
President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, believing she is a
separatist, city-to-city exchanges had continued until
interrupted by the pandemic.
Still, Tsai's administration has cautiously been trying to
reopen less sensitive people-to-people links since it lifted
pandemic-related border controls late last year, aiming to
engender goodwill with China.
China continues to carry out military activities near Taiwan,
including almost daily crossings of the Taiwan Strait's median
line by Chinese air force jets, which had previously served as
an unofficial barrier.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry and
William Mallard)
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