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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Taipei mayor heads for Shanghai
By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） is scheduled to travel to Shanghai this afternoon to attend this year’s Taipei-Shanghai forum and is expected to meet with Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong （楊雄） tonight.
In response to media queries, Ko noted the lack of cross-strait mutual trust indicated by restrictions China has allegedly imposed on the Taipei delegation, which saw the number of Taipei city councilors granted access to the event limited to three.
In a move that has been seen as an attempt to cap Taiwanese attendees, Taipei city councilors who want to participate in the forum must attend the event after being granted funds by the Taipei City Government, and those who want to pay for their own trip would only be granted access to a banquet hosted by the Taipei City Government, the Shanghai City Government reportedly said at bilateral talks last week.
“To say that there is a high level of mutual trust on both sides of the Taiwan Strait is to lie. We understand that the event organizer has difficulties, but I think the top priority in expanding cross-strait relations is to build mutual trust. The [current] basis for mutual trust is simply terrible,” Ko said.
The Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Taipei city caucus yesterday said that with the exception of Tung Chung-yan （童仲彥）, Wang Hsiao-wei （王孝維） and Chang Mao-nan （張茂楠）, who were granted city government funding after a raffle draw, all of its members who had previously intended to attend the event had canceled their plans.
Meanwhile, Taipei City Government spokesman Sydney Lin （林鶴明） said the meeting between Ko and Yang would be at Shanghai’s Ruijin Hotel.
The conversation would be conducted in a “relaxed” atmosphere, which would allow the two mayors “chat freely” about topics they are concerned about, Lin said, adding that Ko did not ask his staff to compile a list of talking points.
The forum opens tomorrow, with Ko scheduled to make appearances at four subforums at which a delegatation of about 100 Taiwanese businesspeople are expected to exchange views with their Chinese counterparts on this year’s themes: Culture, youth entrepreneurship, smart “e-city” infrastructure introduced on both sides and the developments in healthcare systems
Pegatron Corp （和碩聯合科技） chairman Tung Tsu-hsien （童子賢） and online shopping outlet “books.com.tw” chairman Lin Pi-jung （林丕容） are among Taiwanese delegates from the private sector, Lin said.
According to the Chinese-language the Liberty Times （the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper）, it is still uncertain whether Ko would have an opportunity to interact with higher-ranking Chinese officials, as former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin （郝龍斌） did when he attended the forum in Shanghai in 2013, where he met with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun （張志軍）.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
