Forum shores up Shanghai, Taipei ties

An annual forum for Shanghai and Taipei was held at the Regent Taipei Hotel on Tuesday.

The two cities signed memorandums to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on jointly organized marathons and on the Taipei Film Festival and the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Another memorandum was inked to boost exchanges and cooperation between Taipei’s Wenshan district and Songjiang district in Shanghai.

The 2016 forum focused on exchanges related to medical and healthcare services, smart cities, culture, transportation and youth. The annual event has been hosted by the two cities in rotation since 2010.

The two sides of the Taiwan Straits have promoted the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations over the past eight years by adhering to the 1992 Consensus, which upholds both sides of the straits as belonging to one China, said Sha Hailin, representative of Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong, adding that the important progress made in cross Straits relations in recent years was based on that foundation.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said the cities will continue to cooperate on programs related to issues discussed at the forum, as they face these challenges in their future development.

Sha said that Shanghai is willing to conduct exchanges with other cities and counties in Taiwan if a political consensus can be reached.

Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen has not recognized the 1992 Consensus, which has shaken the political foundation for cross-Straits interaction.

The forum came as regular mechanisms between cross Straits affairs departments — as well as the consultation mechanism between the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation — have been suspended.