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The top story from this past week involved a groundbreaking visit to Taiwan by China’s top Taiwan policy official, Zhang Zhijun. He is the first ministerial-level Chinese official to visit Taiwan in 65 years.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said Saturday that the trip was cut short after Zhang’s entourage had a close encounter with protesters.
Since his arrival, Zhang has been greeted by protesters almost everywhere he has gone. On his way to an informal meeting with his Taiwanese counterpart on Friday, some members of Zhang’s security detail were splattered with white paint as demonstrators shouted anti-Chinese slogans.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the two sides have been ruled separately for more than 60 years. China also has more than 1,000 missiles that target Taiwan.
Zhang appeared unaffected by the attacks, but the paint hit several members of the security personnel.
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Also this past week, the two main political parties finalized their candidates for a year-end race for mayor of Taiwan’s largest city – New Taipei City.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Chu announced that he is running for reelection. He said Tuesday that he will finish his second four-year term if re-elected in November. That’s despite speculation that he might run for president in 2016.
Meanwhile, former Premier Yu Shyi-kun has emerged as the opposition camp’s candidate for New Taipei City mayor.
Yu is a political heavyweight from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In a poll on Friday, which pit him against Lin Jih-jia from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), Yu won 38.7% of the vote against Lin’s 18.7%.
Yu was premier from 2002 to 2005 when then president Chen Shui-bin was in power. The former premier said he hopes to receive full support from the TSU, which is significantly smaller than Yu’s own party.
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And finally this past week, two more aboriginal tribes in Taiwan have received official government recognition, bringing the number of officially recognized indigenous groups to 16.
The Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal by the Council of Indigenous Peoples to recognize the Kanakanavu tribe and the Hla'alua tribe. Together, the two tribes have a total of about 1,500 people, who mostly live in rural areas of the southern city of Kaohsiung.
The two tribes were originally considered part of the Tsou tribe. They campaigned for recognition as separate tribes because they both have a distinctive language and culture.