Annual Taipei-Shanghai Forum Suddenly Postponed

TaiwanPlus News

An annual forum between Shanghai and Taipei was abruptly postponed, even leaving parts of Taiwan's government surprised. Taipei City officials say the suspension is due to needing more time to prepare, but others are not so sure.

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00:00Just days before an annual meeting between the city governments of Shanghai and Taipei was set to begin,

00:06Taipei City officials suddenly announced it will be postponed.

00:10They say they need more preparation time.

00:13The agreements they were supposed to sign at the forum are not ready, and some agencies have yet to weigh in.

00:30But the announcement appears to have taken Taiwan's central government by surprise.

00:36The Mainland Affairs Council, which manages relations with China, says it thought a consensus had already been reached.

01:00The annual meeting, called the Twin Cities Forum, is a significant cross-trade exchange that began in 2010.

01:10It's one of few remaining platforms for government-to-government communication between China and Taiwan at any level,

01:16since Beijing cut off all contact with Taiwan's central government in 2016.

01:22At the forum, the two sides usually discuss city-level issues and sign cooperation agreements on things like the environment,

01:29tourism, and transportation.

01:31With the announcement of the event's sudden suspension, there's been some speculation around the reason.

01:37Members of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, which traditionally has closer ties to Beijing,

01:43have accused the central government of obstructing the forum.

01:45But one analyst says that's unlikely, as the Mainland Affairs Council was willing to approve the trip,

02:04and the Taipei City government did not appear to try to shift the blame onto them.

02:07At the same time, the analyst said, it's also unlikely that the suspension was solely due to inadequate preparation,

02:15because this event happens every year, so planning should be relatively routine.

02:19So it's difficult to know what exactly prompted this decision,

02:47but it does come amid heightened cross-strait tensions,

02:50meaning any events between the two sides come under increased scrutiny.

02:54Taipei City officials also have not said when the event might eventually take place.

02:58Those details appear to be still in the works.

03:01Chris Ma and Cadence Quaranta for Taiwan Plus.

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