Disagreement Between MAC Chair and Vice Chair? Rao Qingling's Video Appearance at Straits Forum Exempted? Liang Wen-jie Plays Dove: Courtesy Speech Not Political

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has completely banned local government officials from attending the 'Straits Forum' held by the mainland on June 18, but Kuomintang Taitung County Magistrate Rao Qingling still delivered a speech in video format. MAC Chair Chiu Shui-cheng emphasized that if there is no investigation, who will take the MAC's ban seriously in the future? However, MAC Vice Chair Liang Wen-jie stated that the content of Rao's video did not involve politics, but was mainly courtesy and formalities. The attitudes of the MAC chair and vice chair are completely different, one black and one white.

Date Speaker Content Attitude June 17 Chiu Shui-cheng Prohibit central and local government officials from participating in the Straits Forum in any form, including video, and do not let farmers be raised and killed by the CCP Hawkish July 23 Liang Wen-jie Rao Qingling's speech did not involve major political issues Dovish August 5 Chiu Shui-cheng There must be an investigation process, otherwise in the future, the bans and warnings we write and give may not be taken seriously Hawkish August 6 Liang Wen-jie The content of Rao Qingling's video did not involve politics, but was mainly courtesy and formalities Dovish

What is the Straits Forum? The 'Straits Forum' is a large-scale cross-strait civilian exchange platform sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party, held annually in Fujian Province. Its purpose is to promote exchanges in grassroots, youth, cultural, and economic fields, but the MAC regards it as a CCP platform for unifying Taiwan and restricts Taiwanese civilians and political parties from participating to prevent infiltration.

The 18th Straits Forum was held in Xiamen, Fujian on June 13, and a 'matchmaking signing ceremony' was held during the event, allowing mainland enterprises to sign contracts with Taiwanese agricultural producers to purchase characteristic agricultural and fishery products from Taitung, Yunlin, and Nantou counties, such as pineapples, pomelos, and tea.

The 18th Straits Forum was held in Xiamen, Fujian, and the event also held a signing ceremony where mainland enterprises purchased Taiwanese agricultural products, including Taitung pineapples (New China News Agency).

The MAC's policy stance on the Straits Forum last year was to prohibit central government officials from participating and advise local government officials not to attend related activities. This year, the MAC has raised the ban, changing the attitude towards local government officials from 'advise not to attend' to a complete ban.

Rao Qingling originally applied to the Immigration Agency to attend the Straits Forum on the mainland. However, after the MAC announced the ban, Rao Qingling's application was rejected. However, Rao Qingling later delivered a speech at the Straits Forum in video format.

After Taitung County Magistrate Rao Qingling's application to attend the Straits Forum was rejected, he changed to delivering a speech at the Straits Forum in video format, causing controversy (Photo by Ke Chenghui).

Chiu Shui-cheng's attitude is firm: If not investigated, who will take the MAC's ban seriously in the future? According to Article 33-1 of the 'Cross-Strait Relations Act', people, legal entities, groups, or other organizations in the Taiwan region may not engage in 'cooperative behavior' with mainland agencies or groups working on Taiwan without the approval of the relevant competent authorities, and violators may be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000.

On August 5, MAC Chair Chiu Shui-cheng revealed at the Legislative Yuan that there had previously been other individuals who violated the ban on attending the Straits Forum in video format and were punished. The Immigration Agency believes that since there was a fine before, how can there not be a fine now? Chiu Shui-cheng not only revealed that the Immigration Agency believes Rao Qingling has legal suspicions, but he also emphasized that if there is no investigation process, otherwise in the future, the bans and warnings we write and give may not be taken seriously.

According to Chiu Shui-cheng's statement, Rao Qingling is very likely to be punished, which is a world apart from the conciliatory signal revealed by Liang Wen-jie.

MAC Chair Chiu Shui-cheng's attitude towards the Rao Qingling incident is firm, emphasizing that he will convene a joint review meeting with the law enforcement unit to make a decision on this case (Photo by Ke Chenghui).

Liang Wen-jie reiterates: Rao Qingling's speech did not involve political issues On August 6, Liang Wen-jie presided over the MAC's regular press conference and once again responded to the issue of Rao Qingling's video speech at the Straits Forum.

Media question: Rao Qingling participated in the Straits Forum signing ceremony in video format. Chair Chiu Shui-cheng said that there had been fines for video attendance in the past. Will Rao Qingling be treated the same?

Liang Wen-jie said that last time, we looked at the content of the video speech given by Magistrate Rao at the forum on the other side, which basically did not involve political issues, but was mainly courtesy and formalities. So it seems that a decision should be made soon, but because it is an inter-agency matter, there seems to be a delay in time, but a decision should be made soon.

Wind Media followed up: Does Rao Qingling's video speech violate the 'Cross-Strait Relations Act' Article 33-1 prohibition of 'cooperative behavior'?

Liang Wen-jie said that using video format was indeed considered inappropriate at first, but we still have to look at the content of the video, whether there is cooperative behavior, which actually depends on the content. The things Rao Qingling said on site were mainly courtesy and formalities, and did not involve political issues.