Taipei, June 21 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je will lead a delegation on July 2 to a city forum in Shanghai, at which officials from both cities will exchange views on building healthy cities, according to the Taipei City government.
Ko and his Shanghai counterpart Ying Yong will address the opening ceremony of the forum, which is expected to be attended by a group of city councilors from Taipei, according to a press release issued by the city government.
Three city councilors, Fu Chung-wu of the Kuomintang, Chen Yen-po of the New Party and Liang Wen-chieh of the Democratic Progressive Party, were selected by means of draw to join the Taipei delegation.
Liang said he would like to use the opportunity to visit Shanghai's free trade zone.
Other city councilors, including the KMT's Lee Fang-ju, said they will pay their own way to attend the forum, although the official activities might not be open to such attendees from Taipei.
Lee said she and others like her should be allowed to participate fully as she would like to learn more about Shanghai's development and hear the views of the Chinese officials on cross-strait politics.
However, Hsu Shu-hua, convener of the DPP's council caucus, advised caucus members against paying their own way, saying they may be barred from participating in the Taipei delegation's official schedule and perhaps even from the forum itself.
The Communist Party of China has not been enthusiastic about official exchanges with members of the DPP.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, who is also chairwoman of the DPP, has refused to acknowledge the "one China" principle.
Ko, who is an independent, is seen as DPP leaning.
