With the legislature set to review a controversial service trade agreement with China during the current session, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it was aiming to force a renegotiation of the accord.
DPP officials and legislators set down four principles to guide the review during a weekly meeting between party headquarters and the legislative caucus for discussions of major policies.
The four principles are: reciprocal market opening, fair competition, public livelihood and national security, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
While the DPP has always supported free trade, China is a special case because of the political implications and the differences in the two countries’ economic systems and market sizes, Lin quoted DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as saying, adding that both sides had made different pledges upon their accession to the WTO in 2002, with Taiwan opening up 58 percent of its market while China only opened 37 percent.
Liberalization as listed in the agreement is not reciprocal as far as cross-border trade in services and commercial presence is concerned, which constitutes unfair competition, Lin said.
For example, China would limit Taiwanese investment in Fujian Province to certain sectors, while Taiwan would not place restrictions on Chinese investment in the service sector, Lin said.
Service sectors that are likely to suffer a severe impact from the agreement and those that are related to national security, information security and freedom of speech also require extra protection, the DPP said.
According to an inter-party negotiation in June last year, the service trade agreement is to be screened in the legislature clause-by-clause after a series of public hearings are held.
With the last public hearing scheduled to be held next week, Su urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to respect the results of inter-party negotiations and mainstream public opinion, despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) call for a speedy screening and passage of the agreement.
The DPP also urged the KMT to stop blocking several legislative proposals on cross-strait agreement monitoring and supervision of Chinese investment in the legislature’s Procedure Committee as they are designed to serve as legal safeguards for cross-strait dealings in the future.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) reiterated that the DPP caucus would not allow the KMT to push through the screening and approval of the cross-strait deal by the conclusion of the current session.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
The nation’s usually punctual high-speed rail system yesterday was hit by major disruptions after all scheduled services were canceled and replaced with three hourly trains offering only non-reserved seating, affecting more than 200,000 passengers. Preliminary findings indicate the disruption was caused by a faulty power module in a track switch control cabinet, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said, adding that as a full system inspection could only be conducted after operations end for the day, a decision on whether normal service would resume today would be announced before the first train departs. During a routine inspection early yesterday, a switch signal abnormality
RSS