The Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會) yesterday warned Kinmen officials not to follow the example of their colleagues on Matsu and sign agreements on cross-strait ties with Chinese authorities without central government approval.
Chen Ming-tung (
"Local officials don't make policy, we do. They just carry it out," Chen said.
Authorities on Taiwan's outlying islands are permitted to communicate independently with their counterparts across the Strait, but they must seek central government approval before inking any official agreement pertaining to implementation of the small three links plan, Chen said.
Chen's warning came one day after the council clarified that an agreement signed on Sunday by Matsu lawmaker Tsao Erh-chung (
The council's warning effectively deflated any hopes local officials may have had about striking out on their own to facilitate the smooth implementation of ties.
Local officials have been frustrated by the slow pace of the development of ties and reluctance of the Chinese to embrace the opening of the trade, transport and communications links between Kinmen and Matsu and ports along the Chinese coast on Jan. 1.
According to Liu Li-chun (
"Now that the small three links plan is in place, we must take action to work out the handling of the general day-to-day implementation of the policy," Liu said.
"The agreement focuses on general affairs such as fishing, tourism, cultural exchanges and trade which is permitted under the guidelines for implementation of the links plan ... there was no talk of sensitive policy or political issues," he added.
However, Chen said the council is currently investigating whether any of the Lian Chiang County officials present at the signing ceremony in China overstepped their authority and would consider disciplinary action if necessary.
Chen stressed that official negotiations and agreements with Chinese officials regarding the links plan must be done by the central government and until any such agreements are reached, the local authorities must first receive approval.
"Communication is necessary at some point to the success of the small links plan," Chen said. "But local authorities must wait until the central government has reached some kind of agreement with the Chinese before they can consider making their own."
According to Chen, Kinmen County magistrate Chen Shui-tsai (
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
RSS