Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (
"The policy is still under study," Lin told a press conference yesterday afternoon, "and no breakthroughs will be made in the near future."
Lin called the local report groundless, saying that government agencies including the ministry, the central bank and the Mainland Affairs Council have been studying cross-strait trade policy for almost two years. But "no consensus has been reached yet."
"The government has so far set no timetable for the policy's review," he said.
The minister said it was taking a long time to review the policy because it involved many complicated issues such as cross-strait trade relations, the nation's industrial policies and its impact on local capital markets.
"The major hurdle is that at the moment, Taiwanese capital is not allowed to be wired directly to China," Lin said.
A Chinese-language newspaper yesterday ran a front-page story saying that Chen would soon announce the new policy to encourage China-based Tai-wanese businesses, whose annual revenues exceed NT$10 billion, to make use of local capital while setting up Taiwan-based headquarters and remitting their profits home to boost the local economy.
The report said that Chen planned to use the policy as one of his campaign promises to solicit votes ahead of next year's presidential election.
Vice Minister of Finance Gordon Chen (
The news rekindled a heated debate among local scholars and business representatives yesterday.
Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), presidential adviser and president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, said he was concerned about the feasibility of the policy.
Wu said that the policy would be workable only if the capital flows of China-based Taiwanese businesses are made transparent, because Taiwan has no fiscal jurisdiction over China and cross-strait trade relations have yet to be normalized.
"The government should first come up with supporting measures to allay concerns that the more capital that goes to China, the greater the debts left behind [by loss-making China-based Taiwanese businesses]," Wu said.
However, Wang Ya-kang (
Wang said that the move would also help make clearer the operations of China-based Taiwanese businesses, since all listed companies are required to make their financial conditions public.
The reason that most China-based Taiwanese businesses fail to remit their earnings back to Taiwan is because they need to retain the money for future expansion, Wang said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2