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1st LD-Writethru: Shanghai, Taipei hold annual city forum

Xinhua, August 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

An annual city forum between Shanghai and Taipei was held at the Regent Taipei Hotel on Tuesday.

The two cities signed memorandums to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on marathons organized by the two cities as well as on the Taipei Film Festival and the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Another memorandum was inked to boost exchange and cooperation between Taipei's Wenshan District and Songjiang District in Shanghai.

Sha Hailin, representative of Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong, and Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-ji, delivered speeches on how to show off the cities' vitality. The annual event has been hosted by the two cities in rotation since 2010.

The 2016 forum will focus on exchanges in medical and health care services, smart cities, culture, transportation and youth.

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait have promoted peaceful development of cross-Strait relations over the past eight years by adhering to the 1992 Consensus, which upholds both sides of the strait as belonging to one China, Sha said, adding the important progress made in cross-Strait relations in recent years was based on that foundation.

Expressing gratitude to those who have supported the exchange between the two cities, Sha stressed the achievements relied on both sides having a correct understanding of the nature of cross-Strait relations and city-to-city exchanges.

According to Sha, interaction between Shanghai and Taipei has been strengthened. Statistics show there are more than 13,000 enterprises in Shanghai with investment from Taiwan business people, and more than 1,000 Taiwanese students study in the city every year.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je was also present at the event. When addressing the opening ceremony of the event, Ko said the two cities will make continued efforts to cooperate on programs related to issues discussed at the forum, as the cities will face these challenges in their future development.

After he arrived in Taipei on Monday, Sha visited a local hospital and attended the opening ceremony of a five-day sports event involving 149 students and teachers from Shanghai in a Taipei high school.

Sha said at a press briefing after visiting the hospital that Shanghai is willing to conduct exchanges with other cities and counties in Taiwan if a political consensus can be reached.

Taiwan's current leader Tsai Ing-wen and her administration have not recognized the 1992 Consensus, which has shaken the political foundation for cross-Strait interaction.

The 2016 forum came as the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have suspended the regular mechanism between cross-Strait affairs departments, as well as the consultation mechanism between the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation. Endi