Taiwanese bankers stationed in Shanghai voiced hope yesterday for a quick start of cross-strait financial cooperation, as Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), China’s top negotiator with Taiwan, left for Taipei for a historic visit.
Although financial issues have not been included in the current round of talks in Taipei between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), the bankers contended that the two sides should collaborate to address the negative consequences of the ongoing global financial crisis, which is not expected to end soon.
COOPERATION
They called for speedy cooperation between the two sides to minimize the impact on both sides and address the extant problems, such as allowing Taiwan-based banks to open branches in China to serve Taiwanese businessmen there.
At present, almost all major Taiwan-based banks and stocks and securities firms have opened offices in China — mainly in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Kunshan.
CHEN VISIT
Meanwhile, Chen landed at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport later yesterday for a five-day visit as head of a 60-member delegation, including executives of China’s major banks.
In a written statement issued upon arrival, Chen called for continued and systematic SEF-ARATS negotiations to push for increased exchanges between the two sides.
ITINERARY
Later in the day, Chen paid a visit to the widow of late SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu.
Today he is scheduled to hold talks with SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), after which the two men are expected to sign four agreements on the expansion of cross-strait air services, the opening of shipping and postal links and a food safety cooperation mechanism.
He also plans to visit Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) today.
In the coming days, the ARATS chairman plans to meet various Taiwanese political and business leaders.
He also plans to visit several science and industrial facilities before flying back to Beijing.
Chen and Chiang met for the first time in Beijing in June and clinched two landmark pacts on tourism and the opening of direct weekend passenger charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, paving the way for their second meeting in Taipei.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last