Taiwan approves exchanges with mainland China in a sign island is open to cross-strait travel

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Deputy director of Taiwan Affairs Office in Shanghai approved to lead group for island’s lantern festival as long as visit is ‘subtle, simple and safe’

Approval follows consent for high-profile trip to the mainland by delegation led by KMT vice-chairman Andrew Hsia

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A group of Shanghai officials will attend the Taiwan Lantern Festival, the first official mainland Chinese delegation to visit the island since it reopened its borders in October. Photo: Weibo

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 6:51pm, 16 Feb 2023Updated: 7:21pm, 16 Feb 2023

A group of mainland Chinese officials is expected to arrive in Taipei this weekend for a local-level exchange visit in a sign the island could be planning to resume normal travel across the Taiwan Strait.

Li Xiaodong, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office in Shanghai, has been approved to visit Taiwan for three days from Saturday as the head of a six-member delegation, said a spokesman for the Taipei city government, which will host the visitors.

The island’s Mainland Affairs Council had approved an application made last week by the Taipei government for the Shanghai officials to visit the Taiwan Lantern Festival, the spokesman said on Thursday.

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The spokesman said that in addition to attending the event the group would also exchange views with the host government on tourism, art, cultural and administration issues.

He said that, in the past, Taipei had invited Shanghai to help install lantern artworks during the festival, and officials from the mainland city had been invited to attend the event.

But the Covid-19 pandemic had forced both Taiwan and the mainland to close their borders and Shanghai officials had not attended the Taipei event since 2020, he said.

The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top mainland policy planner, said on Wednesday it had approved the visit according to its merits and in keeping with the principle that it would be “subtle, simple and safe” while the group was in Taipei.