The head of China's political advisory body did not show up to receive a group of Taiwanese representatives attending an annual cross-strait forum on Sunday after Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) withdrew from its planned participation in the event because of what it saw as a demeaning remark by a Chinese TV presenter, CNA reports.
This is the first time since the inauguration of the Straits Forum in 2009 that the chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) did not receive a participating Taiwanese delegation.
Instead, Liu Jiey, the director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, replaced Wang Yang, chair of the CPPCC, in receiving the visitors from Taiwan Sunday morning, before the opening ceremony of the annual forum held in Xiamen city that aims to promote cultural and economic exchanges between China and Taiwan.
The Taiwanese delegates that met with Liu included Wu Cherng-dean, chairman of Taiwan's pro-unification New Party, and People First Party adviser Li Jian-nan.
Lee Cheng-hung, president of the China-based Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM), and Lu Li'an, a Taiwan-born representative to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China were also present on the occasion.
The meeting was opened to the press to take photographs but members of the media were not allowed to stay to listen to both sides' addresses.
CNA has learned that Wang will not attend the forum himself and will speak to forum participants through pre-recorded clip.
Liu Jieyi, right, the director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, meets with Wu Cherng-dean, chairman of Taiwan's New Party at the forum in Xiamen.
