◎ Lin
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council issued an urgent message to force Taiwan to relax restrictions?
Preparatory work for the Twin Cities Forum continues. Shanghai has recently sent personnel to Taiwan to step in. However, the level of the delegation this time has been lower than in the past, which has attracted attention from the outside world. In this regard, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said on September 23 that Shanghai and Taipei have been in communication on matters related to holding the forum. Shanghai's trip to Taiwan was "following the usual practice" and went to Taipei to try to downplay the outside world's attention to the changes in the level of the visiting delegation.
Mainland Affairs Council blocks deputy director’s visit to Taiwan; CCP still emphasizes “exchange practices”
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Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on September 23 that Shanghai and Taipei have been in communication on matters related to holding the forum, and that the Shanghai side's trip to Taiwan was "following the usual practice" of going to Taipei. (File photo, taken from the live broadcast) The Taipei City Government recently submitted an application to come to Taiwan on behalf of Li Xiaodong, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Shanghai, but was denied permission by the Mainland Affairs Council. Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council Qiu Chuizheng said that after China promulgated the "22 Articles on Punishing Independence", in principle, the directors and deputy directors of the Taiwan Affairs Office on the other side of the Taiwan Strait are prohibited from coming to Taiwan, unless they are recommended by the local Taiwanese Business Association and review is completed, exceptions may be made. This move shows that the Taiwan government is on guard against the legal and political pressure from the Chinese Communist Party on Taiwan.
The CCP emphasizes "16 years of practice" in an attempt to maintain the legitimacy of exchanges
Zhu Fenglian emphasized that the Twin Cities Forum has been held for 16 consecutive years and has formed certain "routine practices", and declared that she believed that this year can be successfully held in accordance with the usual practices. By constantly emphasizing exchanges and "routine" over the years, the CCP attempts to shape the Twin Cities Forum into an existing mechanism for cross-strait local exchanges, reducing outside attention to political risks and changes in exchange conditions.
Using urban exchanges to package cross-strait interactions, the CCP continues to release communication signals
It is worth noting that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council not only responded to the Shanghai line-walking group, but also once again emphasized "actively promoting various exchanges and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait" and placed the Twin Cities Forum within the general framework of cross-Strait exchanges. This kind of operation may reduce the sensitivity of cross-strait political confrontation through local city exchanges, and at the same time continue to send a signal to Taiwan to "maintain exchanges and resume interaction."
Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council Qiu Chuizheng (right) was interviewed by a radio program, saying that after China promulgated the "22 Articles on Punishing Independence", in principle, the directors and deputy directors of the Taiwan Affairs Office on the other side of the Taiwan Strait are prohibited from coming to Taiwan. (File photo, taken from the live broadcast) Overall, after the adjustment of the level of the Shanghai line-treading group, the CCP still deliberately used "following convention" and "16 years of exchanges" as the main discussion, trying to maintain the existing legitimacy and continuity of the Twin Cities Forum; on the other hand, Taiwan used a review mechanism to control the visits of personnel from the CCP's local Taiwan Affairs Office to Taiwan, reflecting that the exchanges between the two cities are still affected by cross-strait political and security factors. In the future, the CCP may continue to use "city exchanges" and "historical practices" as entry points to strengthen the propaganda discussion of cross-strait local interactions.
(The author is a graduate student, researching related aspects in mainland China)
