Taiwan mulling gifting China a pair of sika deer

Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) Taiwan is planning to gift a pair of sika deer to a zoo in China's Fuzhou City as a gesture of much-needed goodwill and peace across the Taiwan Strait, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said Wednesday.

The plan is being assessed and the SEF hopes to work it out through the channels provided by its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), said Luo during a visit to Daciou Island in Matsu, officially Lienchiang County.

Daciou is home to around 200 sika deer.

Looking north from Daciou one can see Taiwan-held Gordon Island, and further north across the 10-kilometer-wide waterway is Huangqi Peninsula located in Fujian Province, Luo said, and he hopes it is a "path of peace."

Despite China's persistent sending warplanes and ships to areas around Taiwan, peace is much needed and desired, he stressed, adding that the SEF hopes to gift a pair of deer, to be named "Hehe" and "Pingping," to Fuzhou Zoo to demonstrate Taiwan's belief in and longing for peace.

"He" and "Ping" together mean peace (和平) in Chinese.

Luo arrived in Matsu to open an SEF service center on Tuesday. The SEF is a semi-official organization in Taiwan that handles technical matters in cross-strait relations.

He called for greater cross-strait exchanges through Matsu to create a "win-win" situation and forge common ground focused on peace between Taiwan and China later in the day.

Since the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's official name) government retreated to Taiwan in 1949, Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu have become a stronghold safeguarding freedom and democracy in the region, Luo said.

As part of that history, Kinmen and Matsu had to endure martial law and a curfew longer than Taiwan, which was the price paid by the people of those islands to protect the democratic system of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu and the ROC's sovereignty, he said.

"Today, as a new page is turned in cross-Taiwan Strait interactions, Matsu still needs to stay true to its principles as it serves as a front line in peaceful exchanges across the strait," Luo said.

Luo even suggested that the next round of cross-strait negotiations be held on Matsu.

Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), who joined the trip to Matsu, said the ROC has firmly taken root in Taiwan proper and its offshore islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu when addressing the SEF center opening ceremony on Tuesday.

Liang said that China's war games targeting Taiwan only produced negative effects, referring to the People's Liberation Army's "Joint Sword-2024B" military drills near Taiwan on Tuesday.