The new Cabinet will begin discussions on US beef imports after it is sworn in on Monday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday, adding that he expected Taipei to resume bilateral talks with Washington under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) platform.
In a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt at the Presidential Office, Ma reiterated that his administration expected to make progress on the stalled TIFA talks and that the nation aimed to join the emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the next 10 years.
“I understand the US is very concerned about the issue of US beef imports. We have just completed the Cabinet reshuffle, and the new Cabinet will take over on Monday. The Cabinet will exchange ideas with the US on the issue,” he said.
The US called off the resumption of TIFA talks, which were scheduled to resume in January last year, after Taiwan began testing US beef for ractopamine — a controversial feed additive — and banned US beef containing the substance.
Burghardt on Tuesday linked the bilateral trade dispute to Taiwan’s overall trade liberalization and its engagement with regional trade partners, expecting Taiwan to address the issue of US beef imports as soon as possible.
He congratulated Ma on his re-election last month and praised Taiwan for demonstrating a mature democracy.
He added that he expected the Ma administration to continue deepening bilateral trade and investment relations with the US during his second term.
Ma promised the new Cabinet would further improve Taiwan-US relations.
“Maintaining strong and stable relations with the US is the core of our foreign policy,” he said, adding that Taiwan-US relations under his watch have been the best in the past 30 years and that the nation had also fostered better ties with Japan and China.
Ma linked the expansion of international relations to the improvement of cross-strait relations, insisting that his “three noes” policy — no unification, no independence and no use of force — and the so-called “1992 consensus” served as the major basis for such developments.
At a separate setting yesterday, premier-designate Sean Chen (陳冲) said that specialists at the Council of Agriculture, the Department of Health and the Consumer Protection Commission would use their professional expertise to review the US beef issue and draft suggestions using international standards as a reference.
Asked if the government was under pressure from the US to further open the market to US beef, Chen said: “There is no negotiation without pressure. If there is no pressure, there is no need to negotiate.”
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) has said that the legislature will discuss the issue and revise related rules after the Cabinet comes up with new policies governing US beef imports.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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