Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan said upon returning from a three-day visit to Hong Kong that she would work to promote greater official interaction between Taiwan and the special administrative region.
Speaking with reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport June 5, Lai said she visited Hong Kong as head of the Cabinet-level council to inspect the operations of various ROC government agencies. These included the MAC representative office, the Government Information Office’s Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center, and the local offices of the National Immigration Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
Lai said she also held a forum June 4 with members of the Hong Kong and Macau Taiwanese Association, as well as Taiwan expatriate community leaders and Hong Kong-based Taiwan business representatives. This was followed by a dinner party with participants.
The MAC minister said the main issue raised at the function was when Taiwan and Hong Kong authorities would grant visa-free privileges to each other’s residents.
As for the location and timing of the first joint conference between the newly established Taipei-based Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Cooperation Council and its Hong Kong counterpart, Lai said no plans were made to resolve the issue during her visit.
Prior to Lai’s return, Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang confirmed that Lai’s trip to Hong Kong was simply to check on ROC government operations and that “there was no special mission.”
Regarding whether Lai would meet any high-level Hong Kong officials or mainland officials stationed in the SAR, MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun said the short length of her visit ruled out the possibility of any such meetings.
On June 3, Lai told a gathering of ROC government employees in Hong Kong that under the cross-strait “institutionalized negotiation framework,” visits by the MAC head to mainland China and by the director of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office to the island could both be expected in the future.
“I would like to invite Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi to pay a visit Taiwan,” she said. “I also hope that I can travel to the mainland in my capacity as the MAC minister.”
Lai said the recent improvement in cross-strait relations has led to a warming of Taiwan-Hong Kong ties, pointing out that her trip was evidence of this fact.
The MAC minister said she hopes to see an increase in comprehensive cooperation exchanges between the two sides and that mutual visits can capitalize on the established platform of economic and cultural cooperation councils. (JSM)
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