Taipei: Taiwan's central government will not penalize Taitung County Magistrate Yao Ching-ling over her prerecorded appearance at China's Straits Forum after determining she did not violate the Cross-Strait Act, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday. Speaking at a regular news briefing in Taipei, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh explained that Yao's participation through a prerecorded video was "not entirely consistent" with government policy that bars central and local government officials from taking part in the forum or related activities "in any form."
According to Focus Taiwan, the review of Yao's remarks in the mid-June video showed they were limited to "courtesy greetings and the promotion of Taitung agricultural products" without touching on political issues. Liang stated that following an administrative investigation by the Ministry of the Interior and consultations among relevant government agencies, it was concluded that Yao did not violate relevant provisions of the Cross-Strait Act, leading to the decision not to impose a penalty.
The investigation concentrated on determining if Yao violated Article 33-1 of the act, which bars individuals and organizations in Taiwan from cooperating with Chinese agencies involved in "political work against Taiwan" or activities affecting Taiwan's national security or interests. MAC, Taiwan's top government agency for cross-strait affairs, views the annual Straits Forum as a Chinese Communist Party "united front platform" targeting Taiwan.
On June 4, the MAC announced a ban on both central and local government officials from attending the event, extending a previous restriction that only applied to central government personnel. Yao, a member of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), had applied to attend the forum in person but was denied permission by the central government in early June. She later appeared in a prerecorded video at a June 13 signing ceremony held as part of the forum in Xiamen, Fujian Province. China's Taiwan Affairs Office head Song Tao attended the ceremony in person.
China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Yao expressed her congratulations and noted that the purchase agreements reached by Chinese companies were "a major encouragement" to Taiwan's farmers and fishers. When asked if the government would prohibit officials from participating in next year's forum "in any form," Liang remarked that cross-strait relations are constantly changing, and he could not predict future developments.
Yao, as the leader of a major agricultural county in eastern Taiwan, stated on June 17, after MAC announced the investigation, that she had a clear conscience about her actions and believed recording the video was "the right thing to do."