Taipei: Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has announced an expanded ban on both central and local government officials from attending the annual Straits Forum in China, scheduled for later this month. This move extends a previous restriction that only applied to central government personnel.
According to Focus Taiwan, the 18th Straits Forum will take place in Xiamen, Fujian Province, with the main conference set for June 13. The event is themed "Expanding people-to-people exchanges and deepening integrated development," as reported by China's Taiwan Affairs Office. Liang Wen-chieh, MAC's deputy head and spokesperson, described the forum as a "Chinese Communist Party (CCP) united front platform" targeting Taiwan, during a regular news briefing in Taipei.
The Taiwanese government is taking measures to counteract what it views as the CCP's attempts to infiltrate Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges. As part of these measures, personnel from central and local government agencies are prohibited from attending the forum and its related activities. This marks a shift from last year's position, which only barred central government personnel and advised local government personnel not to participate.
On the legal front, Liang explained that public officials and civil servants in Taiwan must obtain government approval before traveling to China. This means any applications seeking approval to attend the Straits Forum will be denied. However, Article 9 of the Cross-Strait Act requires only specific categories of individuals, such as county magistrates and city mayors, to seek approval from a review committee before entering China. Lower-ranking civil servants and police officers may not be subject to this requirement, raising questions about the ban's applicability to them.
The MAC did not directly address questions regarding the ban's legal basis for lower-ranking officials, stating that the issue had been covered in previous press materials and briefings. This leaves uncertainty about the central government's authority to restrict these individuals from traveling.
Some local government officials, including Taitung County Magistrate Yao Ching-ling, have already applied to travel to China for the forum. However, their applications will be denied under the new policy. Yao, a member of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), expressed regret, noting her role as a connector between local communities, the central government, and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
While KMT Vice Chairman Chang Jung-kung is expected to lead a delegation to the forum, Liang emphasized that KMT members are not covered by the government's regulations. Nonetheless, he urged political parties and the public not to support the CCP's narrative on Taiwan or become instruments of its united front efforts.