Shanghai officials touch down in Taiwan for landmark post-Covid trip

Name: Thousands of sky lanterns soar into the night sky In Taiwan carrying people’s wishes
Uploaded: 2023-02-18T12:01:58.000Z
Duration: 1 min 55 s
Description: Thousands of sky lanterns soar into the night sky In Taiwan carrying people’s wishes

The group, in Taipei for three days as part of the Taiwan Lantern Festival, is the first to cross the strait since the pandemic

Delegation’s visit marks the resumption of local government exchanges after three years

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Li Xiaodong (centre) and the other members of the Shanghai delegation arrive in Taipei on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Ling Xinin Beijing

Published: 8:01pm, 18 Feb 2023Updated: 8:41pm, 18 Feb 2023

A delegation of officials from Shanghai arrived in Taiwan on Saturday to attend an annual cultural event in the first such visit to the island in the three years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The group of six government officials, led by Li Xiaodong, deputy director of the Shanghai office of the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, landed at Taipei Songshan Airport at around 11am.

They are in the city for three days at the invitation of the Taipei government to attend the Taiwan Lantern Festival, an event that marks the end of the Lunar New Year season.

The delegation’s trip marks the resumption of local government exchanges despite high tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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Thousands of sky lanterns soar into the night sky In Taiwan carrying people’s wishes

Beijing’s exchanges with the Taiwanese government led by pro-independence The Democratic Progressive Party have been suspended since Tsai Ing-wen became president in 2016.