Cross-strait exchanges under pressure by Taiwan’s ruling DPP

Next week’s Twin City Forum in Taipei hangs in the balance as organisers face demands to scrap event over China’s escalating military pressure

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Wayne Chiang Wan-an, mayor of Taipei and a member of the opposition KMT, is under pressure by the ruling DPP to cancel an annual event intended to promote cross-strait dialogue. Photo: Facebook

Published: 6:00pm, 14 Dec 2024

A push by Taiwan’s main opposition party to improve cross-strait relations is coming under pressure from the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin City Forum – set for Tuesday – hangs in the balance as Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an faces growing demands to cancel the event if Beijing continues to escalate its military pressure on the island.

Citing the increasing military presence of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) around Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) – the island’s top body overseeing cross-strait policy – has raised doubts about the forum, which was originally conceived in 2010 as a platform for Taipei and Shanghai to foster municipal-level cooperation.

The MAC has granted conditional approval for the event, saying it would be cancelled if the PLA’s activities caused a “deterioration in the situation”. On Wednesday, MAC spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said deterioration could take various forms and would be assessed through multiple indicators rather than a single factor.

This week, the PLA’s activities have included at least 146 aircraft sorties and 53 warship sailings, with 67 aircraft either crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The manoeuvres, according to Taiwanese defence officials, reflect heightened pressure on the island.

On Friday, the MAC said it had denied entry to nine reporters from mainland China given “intensified political and military threats against Taiwan”, adding that their media agencies already had journalists on the island to cover the event.