A view of the Taiwan Straits is seen from Xiamen port, in East China's Fujian Province. Photo: IC

 
 The Labor Party, an opposition party on the Taiwan island, strongly condemned Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' move to stigmatize and obstruct the Straits Forum - the biggest communication event across the Taiwan Straits - and disregard public desire of avoiding conflict and seeking exchanges. 

In a statement sent by the Labor Party of Taiwan to the Global Times on Monday, it noted that the Straits Forum was a platform held since 2009 that integrated forces across the Straits, with the aim of clearing up misunderstandings and forming friendships, and calling on DPP authorities not to obstruct people from participating in such an event. 

"The people's will to promote cross-Straits exchanges cannot be stopped, and the people's will to maintain cross-Straits peace cannot be violated," the Labor Party said in the statement. 

Multiple polls show that a majority of residents in the Taiwan island believe that open communications between the two sides are of great help to eliminate hostility and enhance mutual trust. They also believe that only with more exchanges between the two sides can Taiwan's security be guaranteed.

It is manifest that most residents of the island wish to prompt peace in the Straits through communications, and they hold concerns about the abnormal situation of cross-Straits communications, and the island is on the edge of a crisis of war under the DPP, the Labor Party said. 

The 15th Straits Forum will be held in East China's Fujian Province on the Chinese mainland starting from June 16. It will be the biggest cross-Straits communication event since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. 

Facts have proven that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits who participated in the previous Straits Forums fully demonstrated that cross-Straits exchanges are not only the general trend of the times and the great justice of promoting peace in the Taiwan Straits, but also the common aspiration and expectation of the people, and this can never be blocked by any stigmatization, the Labor Party said in the statement.

During the forum, 51 events will take place, focusing on promoting cultural and economic exchanges and communication among youth and people at the primary level across the Taiwan Straits. The forum, co-hosted by 84 institutions from both sides of the Straits, will offer more than 1,200 jobs and 1,000 internship and training opportunities to young people from Taiwan, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Global Times