Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) urged Beijing yesterday to respond positively to Taiwan’s moves to participate in the international community and to dismantle its more than 1,000 ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan.
“I believe that as long as we continue to extend goodwill to each other, cross-strait relations will remain promising,” he said after a closed-door meeting with Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) at the Grand Hotel.
Chen said that the issue was related to military confidence-building and that it was more important to address economic issues for the moment.
“Political matters must proceed step by step, one step at a time,” Wang quoted Chen as saying during their breakfast meeting.
When asked how Chen addressed him, Wang said he had emphasized that he was the head of the legislature, representing the 23 million people of Taiwan.
Chen called him “elder brother Jin-pyng” because he is eight months Chen’s senior, Wang said.
Although they did not talk about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) scheduled meeting with Chen, Wang said it would be best if Chen addressed Ma as president.
Wang said he suggested Chen talk with representatives of different political parties to improve his understanding of Taiwan.
Wang told Chen he had not ruled out visiting China at “an appropriate time” and asked him to extend an invitation to Wu Bangguo (吳邦國), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, to visit Taiwan.
Asked by the Taipei Times what “an appropriate time” would be, Wang said: “When the two sides need him.”
“If my visit would help solve problems, promote sound policies and benefit cross-strait development, I will go when I am needed,” he said.
Wang said he was glad to see negotiators meet in Taipei on the basis of the “1992 consensus.”
The agreements signed on Tuesday were a historic achievement, he said.
Wang said he hoped the agreements would be implemented on schedule.
Asked whether the legislature would complete its review of the agreements in good time, Wang said he hoped the legislature would deal with the four pacts as soon as possible to benefit economic cooperation and exchanges.
Wang dismissed criticism that the legislature was just a “rubber stamp,” saying its job was to oversee the government.
He stressed, however, that legislation was needed to empower the legislature to supervise cross-strait negotiations.
Regarding the June agreement to increase the quota for Chinese visiting Taiwan, Wang said that since nearly 5 million Taiwanese visit China each year, it would make sense to expect 10,000 Chinese tourists a day.
While Chen would not have a chance to visit central and southern Taiwan on his five-day visit, Wang said he hoped that Chen would be able to do so the next time around.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS