Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-03
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je has met with the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun on
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (left) meets with the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun (right) on Monday afternoon in Shanghai. (CNA photo)
Monday afternoon in Shanghai. The Taiwan Affairs Office is the top Chinese body in charge of the country’s Taiwan policy in the absence of official ties.
Ko traveled to Shanghai for the twin-city forum between Taipei and Shanghai on Sunday. He is the first chief of a major Taiwan municipality to travel to China since bilateral relations began to cool a year ago.
The city government did not announce Ko’s plans to meet with Zhang until Monday morning. When asked why the meeting was not announced earlier, Ko said that Zhang had a busy schedule and that he was deferring to the arrangements made by his hosts.
The media were allowed to film preliminary remarks from the two officials before they headed into a closed-door meeting that was not open to the public. [FULL STORY]
