Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), the nation’s chief negotiator with China, arrived in Nanjing, China, yesterday morning on a mission to seal three agreements and one joint statement with China.
The highlight of Chiang’s visit will be a meeting today with his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
The two sides are expected to sign three agreements on the launch of regular cross-strait passenger flights, financial cooperation and mutual judicial assistance and cross-strait cooperation to fight crime. Any consensus reached on opening Taiwan to Chinese investment would be covered in a joint statement.
PHOTO: CNA
Representatives of the SEF and ARATS held a preparatory meeting yesterday to finalize the text of the agreements and the joint statement.
Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), who was at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to see off Chiang and his delegation, promised that the SEF’s negotiations with ARATS would be conducted in accordance with the principles of equality and dignity and would uphold the interests of Taiwan and its people.
During the talks, Chiang is also likely to raise a proposal for Taiwan and China to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) as instructed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during their meeting on Friday.
Ma has argued that if Taiwan does not sign such an agreement with China, it risks being marginalized and losing its competitiveness because China and neighboring countries are planning to sign free-trade agreements.
Critics, however, warned that the ECFA could jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty and make it too economically dependent on China.
Defining the ECFA as an accord about “tariff reduction” and “fair trade,” Lai yesterday said it was essential to normalizing cross-strait trade.
Addressing concerns about the negative impact of the ECFA on local businesses, Lai said in an interview with a radio station in Taichung yesterday that there would be supplementary measures in place and that the government would only open industries that could benefit from and attract Chinese investment.
They will not include industries involved in high-tech development or national security, she said.
A pact on judicial assistance and cooperation to fight crime will allow for the repatriation of Taiwanese fugitives in China to face justice, she said. Of the 85 major Taiwanese economic criminals who have fled to China over the past 10 years, only one has been returned to Taiwan, she said.
Lai said the two sides would also discuss “fifth freedom of the air,” or the right of airlines to operate connecting flights, during the Chiang-Chen meeting, but it would not be the focus of the meeting because of its technical complexity.
Fifth freedom of the air means that an airline can carry passengers from one country to another, and then on to a third country. Beijing has been reluctant to discuss the matter because it touches on the issue of sovereignty.
Also See: Financial deal is ‘ticket’ to Chinese market: FSC head
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
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
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