Former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) yesterday said that he would express Taiwan’s interest in taking part in the emerging Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the China-led regional financial institution, when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) today, according to a report.
Siew, head of Taiwan’s delegation to this year’s Boao Forum for Asia in China’s Hainan Province, told reporters he is to meet Xi at 9:20am today, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
Siew was quoted by the CNA as saying that Taiwan should be part of the AIIB and that he would “make a case for it whenever I have the chance to speak to China’s leaders.”
Photo: CNA
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told Siew to declare Taiwan’s interest in the AIIB during a meeting on Tuesday, according to an interview with Ma by the Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時集團) on Thursday.
Ma listed three reasons Taiwan should join the AIIB, but said that some issues might need to be discussed first, including in what capacity Taiwan would be admitted to the body, which requires statehood as a condition of membership.
Among the reasons Ma listed were that Taiwan could serve as a peacemaker and humanitarian aid provider in the international community, that taking part in the AIIB would be helpful to Taiwan’s bids to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and that working with China in its initiatives, supported by many other countries, would benefit cross-strait relations.
China has put making plans for the implementation of its “One Belt, One Road” policy, which it envisions, together with the AIIB, connecting China with countries in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe through construction of infrastructure projects, on top of the agenda of the four-day forum, which opened on Thursday.
With South Korea and Turkey announcing their bids to join the AIIB yesterday, the number of prospective members reached 37 before the Tuesday deadline set by China for countries to seek founding memberships.
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) told a cross-strait meeting in Taipei last month that the “One Belt, One Road” policy would open up a good channel for Taiwan’s investment, but the government said last week that Taiwan has not been invited to join the AIIB.
When Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) was asked by lawmakers about the government’s willingness to apply to join the AIIB on Friday last week, he said the government would carry out an assessment when it was invited to do so.
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) yesterday said that Taiwan would seek to join the AIIB on the condition that it receives dignified treatment.
“We are expressing our interests, but we will not accept any degrading arrangements in terms of the way we would be allowed to participate, in what capacity, in how Taiwan is treated and our designation. We’ll deal with these issues through negotiation,” Lin said.
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: The KMT urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the arrivals cap, as they would lose their right to vote if they could not return by July 26 The COVID-19-related border control measures and the cap on the number of international arrivals are not being eased, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported 112 imported cases of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said a meeting was held yesterday morning in which the Cabinet decided that current border control measures would remain in place. He said the main considerations were global COVID-19 cases increasing 21 percent last week, imported cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 continuing to be detected
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday commenced mass production of 3-nanometer chips that are more powerful and efficient than predecessors, beating rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to a key milestone in the race to build the most advanced chips in the world. South Korea’s largest company said in a statement that it was beginning with 3-nanometer semiconductors for high-performance and specialized low-power computing applications before expanding to mobile processors. By applying so-called Gate-All-Around transistor architecture, Samsung’s 3-nanometer products reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent and improve performance by 23 percent compared with 5-nanometer chips, it said. Samsung’s push to be first
‘STRONG SUPPORT’: Liberal International expressed concern over Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, saying they could undermine regional peace Liberal International on Saturday passed a “World Today Resolution” recognizing the threat that China poses to Taiwan, while supporting Taipei’s inclusion in international organizations. Liberal International was established in 1947 as a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. Last week, it held its 63rd congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was attended by 221 representatives from 58 countries. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the congress’ opening on Thursday. DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) yesterday said the party, which has been a member of
Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) has been criticized by the “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the Web — for saying “Hong Kong jia you [加油, an expression of encouragement].” To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on Friday, China Central Television made a series of programs in which it interviewed Cheung and other celebrities. Cheung, speaking in Cantonese, said in the interview that “Hong Kong has been through a lot in the past 25 years, including ups and downs” and ended with the phrase “Hong
RSS