Participants from both sides of the Taiwan Strait gathered in Shanghai for the inaugural Oriental Chic Development Summit on Saturday to present the fusion of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and contemporary creativity.
With young designers and artists across the Strait taking center stage, the event means to explore collaborated efforts to bring Chinese aesthetics to the world.
Lin Jiun-ting, a New Media Artist from Taipei, Taiwan of China, said that with shared history and cultural roots, creativity sparks through exchange of fashion industries across the Strait.
"So how can we bring this inner elegance of ours to the world? I believe that it is through exchange that we get to know each other. And only then is it easy for us to create new possibilities," he said.
Gao Qing, representative inheritor of the intangible heritage of traditional incense making techniques, shared her experiences, saying the same culture brings closer mainland and Taiwan compatriots.
"Back in 2018, we went to Taiwan for exchanges. And in recent years, we have also had two students from Taiwan coming over to study. Through this incense, we have been able to further draw our hearts closer," she said.
At the summit, Hung Hsiu-Chu, former chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang Party (KMT) and chair of the Chinese Cyan Geese Peace Education Foundation, based in China's Taiwan region, delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of mutual communication.
"It is essential to uphold the 1992 Consensus and oppose Taiwan secession as the basis for rebuilding mutual trust and deepening exchanges. We will promote industrial collaboration and create entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for young people on both sides of the Strait," she said.
Cross-Strait fashion summit featuring Chinese aesthetics opens in Shanghai
The recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran has sparked major concern among Israeli officials, who fear that Israel's interests are being abandoned by its most crucial ally, according to analysts.
The development comes as Israel braces for a pivotal election later this year, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu potentially facing severe political fallout from the agreement.
"Israel views the MoU signed with Iran as a complete capitulation where the Americans were desperate to reach a deal because they clearly failed abysmally to plan for the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. So they feel that all of Israel's interests have been abandoned," said Dan Perry, an American world affairs and political analyst.
Following the signing of the MoU, Iran and the United States held the first round of high-stakes indirect talks, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, at the Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock on Sunday.
On Monday, mediators announced encouraging outcomes from the talks, including a 60-day roadmap toward a final deal, and mechanisms to ensure the security of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran in Lebanon.
However, there have been concerns that Israel may jeopardize the negotiations.
"No doubt that the Americans, some of the Americans, definitely some of the Americans that are negotiating, like the Vice President JD Vance, think that Israel can put some obstacles and jeopardize the negotiations," said Yaki Dayan, former Israeli consul in Los Angeles.
With Israeli elections looming later this year, Netanyahu's core strategy to get re-elected was to portray the very good relations he holds with U.S. President Donald Trump. However, the MoU and the ensuing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran may dramatically affect the election results.
"Unless something dramatically changes, this is devastating for Netanyahu, not only because he pursued a strategy that has failed - the Iranian regime still stands, the nuclear program still exists, Hamas and Hezbollah are still fighting against Israel, but also because he was long perceived as Mr. America, with his incredible eloquence in American English. He could run circles around any American president to get America to do Israel's bidding," said Perry.
Perry added that instead of maintaining that influence, Netanyahu has brought Israel to an unbelievably low point in its relationship with the United States.
Although Netanyahu did practically everything to persuade the U.S. to withdraw from the previous Iran nuclear deal signed more than a decade ago under President Barack Obama, analysts doubt that he can repeat it again this time because Israel and its prime minister rely entirely on just one side of the American political spectrum.
"When you look at alternatives now, you don't have because Israel has lost the Democratic side as well. So you don't have an alternative in the American politics," said Dayan.
Israel feels its interests "abandoned" in US-Iran deal: analysts
