Cross-strait forum to go on, despite Taiwan protests

The annual forum between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party is scheduled to proceed as planned in Shanghai next month, despite protests last week in Taiwan during mainland envoy Chen Yunlin’s visit and an earlier incident in which demonstrators pushed one of Chen’s deputies to the ground, the South China Morning Post reported. This year’s forum will address trade issues as well as cross-strait banking and two-way investments. Mainland officials have mainly shrugged off protests as they continue their efforts to push forward economic cooperation. Li Weiyi, a spokesman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said there was no way a "small group of people" could "sabotage" dialogue between the two sides.