Chinese spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in China, Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) stated in a recent press conference her desire to visit Taiwan.
At the press conference held on January 26th, Zhu greeted the “Taiwanese villagers” (台灣鄉親) in Hakka. She mentioned her desire to come to Taiwan and meet with Hakka people in cities with large Hakka populations like Taoyuan and Hsinchu.
The Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement saying that if the appropriate time was found and if Zhu could be openminded and respect the values of freedom of speech, the press, religion, and human rights, she is welcome to come.
Liu Shih-chieh, who formerly worked as a diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and current member of the New Power Party (時代力量), also took the opportunity to chime in. He stated in an open letter on Facebook that Zhu is welcome to visit and that he would personally meet her and take her to taste some Hakka snacks (Liu is Hakka himself). However there was a caveat.
Liu also mentioned that there were three preconditions to Zhu’s visit to Taiwan. Frist, the CCP must remove the missiles pointed at Taiwan immediately. Second, China must cease its harassment of Taiwan using its warplanes. And finally, the CCP must end its practice of keeping Taiwan out of international organizations.
He also posted that while Zhu is welcome, she might not be able to accept “the shocking education that goes hand in hand with protests.” (可能無法接受抗議如影隨形的震撼教育).
I bet is that Zhu won’t be coming to Taiwan for some time.