Hsieh arrives for HK forum aimed at bringing Taiwan's DPP, Beijing closer
Some fear forum could intensify policy rift in Taiwan's opposition party over cross-strait policy and delay talks with Communist Party
A former chairman of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party, Frank Hsieh Chang-ting, arrived in Hong Kong yesterday for a high-profile forum that analysts say could pave the way for future dialogue between the pro-independence party and Beijing.
On his arrival, Hsieh said he was in a good mood because he was doing the right thing. He attended a banquet last night hosted by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who said Hong Kong was willing to be a bridge across the straits.
But some warn that Hsieh's move could intensify a rift within the DPP over cross-strait policy and delay indefinitely talks between it and the Communist Party.
Hsieh's Taiwan Reform Foundation, organiser of the two-day forum, said prominent DPP members and Taiwanese cross-strait experts would discuss ways to narrow differences between Taipei and Beijing with senior mainland officials and scholars.
Hsieh would lead a 29-member delegation of DPP legislators, local councillors and academics and deliver a keynote speech at the forum, which starts today, the foundation said.
Yu Keli , director of the Beijing-based Taiwan Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a co-sponsor of the event, would also address the forum, the largest to involve DPP and mainland representatives. Twenty-three mainlanders, including Sun Yafu , deputy director of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, other ministry officials and academics, would attend.
Analysts said such a high-profile discussion was rare, given Beijing's policy of not dealing with advocates of Taiwanese independence. However, in recent years Beijing has seen the need to increase contacts with the DPP, which ruled from 2000 to 2008, as it could return to power in the presidential election in 2016.
