North Korea yesterday proposed high-level military talks with the US over the sinking of a South Korean warship, just hours before the UN Security Council was due to issue a statement on the issue yesterday morning in New York.
The North’s military had earlier called for talks only with their South Korean counterparts about the sinking, a proposal rejected by Seoul, which accuses Pyongyang of torpedoing the Cheonan.
South Korea had said the matter should be handled at talks between the US-led UN Command and North Korea’s military, within the framework of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.
The North, which denies any role in the sinking, previously refused to deal with the US-led command but appears to have changed its stance.
Its military proposed holding working talks at the truce village of Panmunjom on Tuesday to discuss the possible opening of talks at the general level with the US
“This proposal is a manifestation of the unshakable will of the army and people of the [North] to probe the truth behind the Cheonan case in an objective, scientific and fair way,” its official news agency said.
Meanwhile, diplomats say the Security Council was set to approve a statement condemning the torpedo attack that killed 46 sailors, but the declaration stops short of directly blaming Pyongyang.
After more than a month of closed-door discussions, the US announced on Thursday that the five permanent council members — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — as well as South Korea and Japan had reached agreement on the text.
US Ambassador Susan Rice introduced the draft statement to the 15-member council at a closed meeting late on Thursday.
Presidential statements must be approved by the full council, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed. They said there was no opposition. While presidential statements don’t have the clout of resolutions, they do become part of the Security Council’s record.
A South Korean-led international investigation that included experts from five other nations concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan on March 26.
South Korea sent a letter to the council on June 4 asking it to respond to the sinking “in a manner appropriate to the gravity of North Korea’s military provocation.” The South had wanted the council to condemn the North. But China opposed a third round of sanctions against Pyongyang or direct condemnation for the sinking.
The draft statement “condemns the attack” and expresses “deep concern” over the investigation’s findings that North Korea was to blame. It calls for “appropriate and peaceful measures to be taken against those responsible.”
However, it doesn’t identify who is responsible, and “takes note” of North’s response “that it had nothing to do with the incident.”
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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