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One of the top stories from this past week was that Taiwan's three presidential hopefuls presented their cross-strait policies to the public. That was during the first platform presentation of the election season on Friday evening.
KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu said that the 1992 Consensus is the basis of cross-strait ties. He was referring to a tacit agreement reached between Taiwan and China in 1992. Under the agreement, both sides agree that there is only one China, though each side is allowed to maintain its own interpretation of what that means.
Opposition DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen said her party acknowledges that Taiwan and China reached a consensus in 1992. She said that her policy, which she called a “Taiwan Consensus”, focuses on maintaining the status quo. But she said that her policy is different from the current administration's, in that it does not limit Taiwan's options for conducting cross-strait relations in the future.
Meanwhile, People First Party candidate James Soong said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are "one family". He said he will use Taiwan’s advantages in the pursuit of cross-strait peace.
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Also this past week, the transportation ministry’s i3 Travel project has won a gold award from APEC’s Energy Smart Community Initiatives (ESCI.)
According to deputy transportation minister Fan Chih-ku, the project integrates low-carbon tourism and smart transportation management systems and promotes local shops through a digital platform developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Fan said the project will help transform traditional tourism at central Taiwan’s Sun Moon Lake by making travel there more intelligent and eco-friendly.
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And finally, this past week, President Ma Ying-jeou inaugurated the newly renovated north runway at Taiwan’s main international airport serving Taipei. Ma presided over the ceremony on Thursday, marking the reopening of the runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
The renovation cost NT$2.5 billion (US$76.14 million). Ma was also present for the first takeoff from the renovated runway.
At the ceremony, Ma said that Taiwan had signed bilateral aviation agreements with 25 countries and territories over the past seven years. With these agreements, the number of flight routes to and from Taiwan has grown to serve 134 destinations in 31 countries and territories.
The president said there were limited flights between China and Taiwan before he took office. But he said that during his administration, the number of cross-strait flights had grown from 108 to 890 per week.