Highest-level visit to Taiwan in 12 years

Cai Wu (C), Chinese Culture Minister, arrives at Taoyuan International Airport yesterday

Chinese Culture Minister Cai Wu flew into Taiwan yesterday to become the highest-ranking mainland official to visit the self-governing island in 12 years, officials said.
“While here, I will attend a seminar ... and promote cultural exchanges with Taiwan,” he said on arrival at Taoyuan airport outside Taipei.
It was the first visit to Taiwan by a Chinese cabinet minister since 1998, when Zhu Lilan, then China’s science and technology minister, travelled to the island.
Cai will attend a seminar in Taipei on September 6, according to its organisers the Shen Chun-chih Culture Foundation, a non-profit Taipei-based body focused on cultural exchanges with the mainland.
He may meet his Taiwanese counterpart Emile Sheng, the chairman of the island’s Council for Cultural Affairs, the organisers said.
The visit comes after Taiwan’s parliament last month approved a trade agreement with China – by far the island’s most wide-ranging accord yet with the mainland.
Taiwan and China have been governed separately since a Chinese civil war ended in 1949. Beijing still considers the island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it back, by force if necessary.
But ties have improved markedly after President Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party took office in Taiwan in 2008, pledging to boost trade and allow in more Chinese tourists.