After Taiwan's 2024 general election, after the stubborn "Taiwan independence" element Lai Qingde came to power, cross-strait relations have become extremely tense, and the mainland has repeatedly issued a unified statement, while in Taiwan, except for the Democratic Progressive Party, other parties have a very positive attitude towards cross-strait exchanges.
According to China Times News Network, Taiwan's 2024 Taipei Lantern Festival officially opened on February 2, and the organizer of the Lantern Festival, Taipei Mayor Jiang Wanan, also invited the Shanghai Municipal Government to visit as usual.
Although the future of cross-strait relations is now full of uncertainties, the Shanghai Municipal Government still sent a delegation, but this year the Shanghai delegation was downgraded and sent to participate in the delegation led by the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office.
The Taipei Lantern Festival has been attended by the Shanghai Municipal Government since 2016, and it has not changed for many years, and Jiang Wanan will not be an exception this year. Jiang Wanan said that the Taipei Lantern Festival is a golden opportunity for cross-strait exchanges, and it is also a symbol of friendship between Shanghai and Taiwan.
Taiwanese media said that the three directors who participated in the Taipei Lantern Festival on behalf of the Shanghai Municipal Government will visit Taipei from February 17 to 20.
The media mentioned that last year was the first time that the Shanghai delegation went to Taiwan after the epidemic, and the whole process was full of twists and turns, not only did Jiang Wanan not meet with the Shanghai delegation until the last day, but also half an hour after arriving at the venue, Jiang Wanan found a reason to leave the scene in a hurry.
After that, every move of the Shanghai delegation in Taiwan was over-interpreted by the Taiwan media, and the whole process looked very unpleasant, so some Taiwanese media speculated that this year's Shanghai downgrade and dispatch had something to do with last year's Lantern Festival.
After Lai Ching-te became the leader of the Taiwan region, he brought great uncertainty to cross-strait relations, but Jiang Wanan still invited the Shanghai delegation with a positive attitude, and Shanghai and the mainland side are still very happy to see this attitude of actively seeking exchanges.
In addition, in addition to Jiang Wanan, the Nantou County Lantern Festival also sent invitations to mainland cities, and it is worth mentioning that Wang Ruide, deputy county magistrate of Nantou County, who invited mainland cities, belongs to the DPP camp.
Whether it is Jiang Wanan's invitation for exchanges, or Nantou County's active invitation to the mainland to visit Taiwan, it can be seen that the Taiwan people are now willing to carry out exchanges with the mainland. Under such strong voices and the will of the people, although Lai Qingde is a diehard "Taiwan independence" element, he still took the initiative to signal that he is willing to carry out exchanges with the mainland after he was elected.
As long as the people of Taiwan have their hearts set on the mainland, there will be basic conditions for the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the strait, and no matter what the Taiwan authorities or certain political parties and individuals think, they must remember that the will of the people cannot be violated!