Taiwan Provincial Farmers' Association (TPFA) chief delegate Chang Yung-cheng (
Now that the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has said that it will not dispatch officials to participate in the negotiations, Chang said that Taiwanese fruit exports to China will continue to have to go through a third country or area if the talks fail to take place or yield concrete results -- which means the nation's farmers will not be able to enjoy China's duty-free import offer or other preferential treatment.
Chang called on Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), which has been designated by the government to negotiate the terms of exporting fruit to China, to assume the responsibility of addressing the issue and said that the TPFA is willing to collaborate with the government to settle the issue.
Meanwhile, a group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators will head for China today as scheduled, but will not hold farm talks with the Chinese authorities while there, KMT legislative whip Chen Chieh (
Chen denied a media report that he will lead a KMT mission of legislative caucus members to China at the invitation of the Association for Economic and Trade Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait. He claimed that he had no knowledge of having been invited by the Chinese association for talks on fruit exports tomorrow in Tianjin, Hebei Province.
The KMT wants to help bolster communication between Taiwan and China, and the delegation will not infringe upon the government's authority while in China, he added.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique