Taipei Times
Date: Sep 23, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker’s suggestion to call off a top-level cross-strait

Premier Mao Chi-kuo, right, is joined by Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia as he answers questions on China’s new card-style “compatriot travel document” in the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

meeting scheduled for next month to demonstrate Taiwan’s unhappiness with China’s high-handed introduction of a new travel pass for Taiwanese would be considered, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday, although he stressed that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has responded positively to Taipei’s complaints.

KMT Legislator Lu Hsiu-yen (盧秀燕) said China’s unilateral move to replace its paper “Taiwan compatriot travel document” (台胞證) with a smart-card pass was a slap in the face to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the premier and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言).

If Taiwan’s government simply delivered an oral protest, it “would be looked down on by both its people and the Chinese government,” Lu said, as she told Cabinet ministers the meeting scheduled for next month between Hsia and TAO Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) should be scrapped.     [FULL  STORY]