Taiwan delays trips by mainland Chinese scholars in fresh setback for cross-strait visits
Exchanges between the island and mainland China remain far below pre-Covid levels amid tensions and travel restrictions
Scheduled visits to Taiwan by two mainland Chinese academic delegations in recent days have been postponed due to obstacles imposed by Taipei, according to Taiwanese media.
One of the delegations, led by Xiamen University’s Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies (GIFTS), had been scheduled to visit Taiwan last Thursday for academic exchanges, Taiwan’s United Daily News (UDN) reported.
A separate delegation, led by the president of Xiamen University, had been scheduled to visit Taiwan today, but that trip was also postponed pending approval, according to the report on Friday.
Taiwanese authorities postponed the visits saying the delegations’ applications had yet to be approved, and that the trips would be pushed back to October, the report said.
UDN cited sources suggesting that the delay might be due to “technical obstacles” created by Taiwanese authorities, and potentially linked to internal disagreements between different departments handling the case.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council – the island’s top cross-strait policy planner – told UDN that the case was still under review in accordance with legal procedures. Taiwan consistently supports “healthy and orderly” cross-strait exchanges, it added.
Taiwan would promote exchanges between think tanks from both sides while taking into consideration the cross-strait situation and the “principle of ensuring national security”, the council was quoted as saying.
