China free-trip offer a sign of united front work: MAC chief

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) Reported offers of free trips for young Taiwanese who are attending a cross-Taiwan Strait forum in China bear "obvious" signs of being part of Beijing's united front efforts, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) head Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said Monday.

The sixth Cross-Strait Sun Yat-sen Forum is being held in Guangdong Province from June 27 to 29.

According to a Liberty Times report, which cited a source familiar with the matter, Beijing offered full subsidies for Taiwanese aged 16-45 to attend the event, with participants only required to pay for round-trip airfare to and from Macau.

The report also said that a Taiwanese participant, identified as Chiu Ching-ling (邱慶齡), visited the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou and presented a large floral arrangement bearing the theme "Taiwan, China" at the foot of a bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen.

Responding to the report before attending a hearing of the Legislature's Internal Administration Committee in the morning, Chiu Chui-cheng told reporters that the floral tribute itself served to downgrade Taiwan's status.

The government supports healthy cross-strait exchanges conducted on the basis of equality and dignity, Chiu said, but heavily or fully subsidized arrangements offered only to Taiwanese participants carried "obvious" signs of being part of Beijing's united front efforts.

Among those attending the Guangdong event on Sunday was Kuomintang (KMT) Vice Chairman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭).

The Liberty Times report also quoted Chang as saying during the event that the existence of the MAC itself reflects the KMT's narrative on cross-strait relations and that relations across the Taiwan Strait are not state-to-state relations.

Responding to Chang's remarks, Chiu Chui-cheng said the MAC is a government agency not affiliated with the KMT and handles cross-strait affairs in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of China.

The government's policy remains maintaining the status quo, according to the MAC head, who said there is currently no "Taiwan independence" problem in cross-strait relations but there is a problem of being "unified by force" by China.