Taiwan Mayors Intend Visit to MainlandJust after Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh expressed his will to visit the mainland, Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou said lately he also intended to visit the mainland, the Hong Kong-based Commercial Daily said.Ma, of the Kuomintang Party, revealed at a recent press conference in Hong Kong that he had intended to go to the Chinese mainland as early as he campaigned for the post of mayorship of Taipei in 1998. His busy schedule in the past two years held up his planned visit, he said. Ma said that he ``could go to the mainland'' to attend meetings and exchanges activities in the capacity of mayor, however, the visit must be approved by Taiwan's ``Executive Yuan'' (Taiwan's self-claimed cabinet), in accordance with relevant ``Taiwan regulations.'' In a related development, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen, Fujian Province, confirmed its mayor had received an invitation from Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh to visit Kaohsiung. Hsieh is also newly elected head of Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). However, the office denied Wednesday it invited Hsieh to visit Xiamen. "We are studying Kaohsiung's invitation to Xiamen Mayor Zhu Yayan from Mayor Hsieh, but it is not true that we have invited Mr Hsieh to visit," a Xiamen official said. Hsieh, to take up the post of DPP chairman as of July 22, claimed Tuesday he had accepted an invitation from Xiamen mayor to visit Xiamen. The mainland welcome Taiwan political parties and Taiwanese people to exchange views with the mainland on cross-Straits relations and peaceful reunification under the one-China principle, the official said. The mainland is also willing to work with Taiwanese groups that oppose ``independence'' and pursue reunification and actively boost economic co-operation. |
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