The talks Taipei has had with Manila regarding the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 incident and related issues were “a matter between the Republic of China (ROC) and the Philippines,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said yesterday. Kao said the ROC does not accept the “one China” policy being applied to talks conducted between the ROC and the Philippines because they “have nothing to do with ‘one China.’”
She made the remarks when asked about a statement the Chinese embassy in Manila made on Tuesday to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which the newspaper reported yesterday, that governments should defer to Beijing’s “one China” policy.
Kao said that the ministry was still looking into the authenticity of the statement.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer said the Chinese embassy made the statement when asked by the newspaper to comment on the start of Manila and Taipei’s fishery talks.
“The Chinese government has no objection to the non-governmental economic and cultural contacts between Taiwan and foreign countries that have diplomatic relations with China, but we oppose foreign countries and Taiwan having official exchanges or signing agreements with sovereign and official implications,” Chinese embassy spokesperson Zhang Hua (張華) said.
“We have always required and hoped that the countries that have established diplomatic relations with China abide by their commitments to adhere to the ‘one China’ policy,” Zhang said, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Officials from Taipei and Manila reached a consensus at a meeting last week on four points on dealing with fishing disputes in overlapping waters to prevent a repeat of the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 incident in which Philippine Coast Guard personnel shot at the Taiwanese boat, killing fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
Included in the consensus was a pledge to refrain from the use of force or violence against fishermen from the other side when handling fishing disputes in overlapping waters and to continue discussions on signing a provisional arrangement on fishing rights in the area.
Both sides have decided to hold another meeting early next month on related issues.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS