A Cross-strait CEO Summit is under way in Taipei.
More than 800 business and industrial leaders from both sides of the Taiwan Strait participated in the summit, which kicked off Monday. They include the chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Morris Chang, and the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma.
China’s top envoy to Taiwan, Chen Deming, former Chinese Vice Premier, Zeng Peiyen, and Taiwan’s former Vice President, Vincent Siew were also present at the event.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Siew said cross-strait economic cooperation is an unstoppable trend. However, to ease public concerns over Taiwan’s perceived over-reliance on China, Siew said that business sectors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait must share benefits and allow people on both sides to reap the fruits of their cooperation as well.
Meanwhile, a number of pro-Taiwan independence activists staged a protest outside the venue holding the event. Chanting slogans such as “stop the elites from both sides of the strait” and “business coercion for political motives,” protesters had minor scuffles with police.