The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of replacing the government in cross-strait negotiations and said it was bringing back the old “party-state.”
DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) told a press conference in Taipei that Taiwan-China talks should proceed within a government-to-government framework, rather than party to party.
“The unscrupulous KMT has ignored the harm it has done to the sovereignty of the government system … forcing the country to accept deals it has reached secretly with its Chinese counterparts,” he said.
The lawmaker said five government officials attended last weekend’s fourth joint Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum in Shanghai with KMT officials, violating the law, adding that the judiciary should investigate whether they had committed treason.
Lai said Taiwanese companies should be wary of the “economic benefits” offered by China.
Citing the case of Beijing allowing Taiwanese businesses to join public bids for major construction projects in China, Lai said Taiwanese enterprises had higher costs than their Chinese counterparts, which would make it very difficult to win bids for projects.
Lai said that although China had promised to buy US$2 billion in flat panels from Taiwanese companies, this accounted for less than 10 percent of annual sales and could hardly be referred to as a benefit.
If Chinese companies exported those panels to the international market after assembling them, Lai said, those products would compete with products made by local companies. He questioned whether Taiwanese companies would profit from such trade.
In a separate setting, Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said the KMT did not represent the voice of all Taiwanese and could not replace the role of the government in talks with China.
“Taiwanese did not give the KMT a blank check to do whatever it likes when dealing with cross-strait relations,” Huang said.
The financing of Taiwanese investors in China is meant to help the Chinese economy — its growth and employment — Huang said.
A US report showed Taiwan’s direct investment in China in 2005 was US$280 billion, Huang said.
“China’s economy depends on Taiwan, not the other way around,” Huang said, adding that people should not lose sight of that reality.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said that all the decisions made at the forum could only serve as suggestions to the government. Lin said the five government officials who attended the forum did so as individuals rather than as representatives of the government.
Also yesterday, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) said the conclusions reached and the suggestions made at the forum would only provide “direction for policymakers.”
“Solid negotiations on concrete matters and issues across the Taiwan Strait will still have to rely on the SEF and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait,” Chiang said.
Meanwhile, SEF Deputy Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) said that it would be unrealistic to have high expectations regarding the agreements made at the forum.
Kao said Chinese authorities promised some time ago they would provide 50 billion yuan (US$7.29 billion) in loans from two Chinese state funds to Taiwanese businesses to facilitate operations in China.
However, none of the businesses was able to secure loans because the threshold set by the authorities was too high, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG AND CNA
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS