The US and Chinese armies have agreed on a framework for dialogue, and will soon augment a shared code of conduct with guidelines to avert errors or mishaps when their aircraft operate near each other, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Friday’s signing of the dialogue pact in Washington comes three months ahead of a planned visit to the US by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Tension has been rising in the South China Sea, where China is building artificial islands its neighbors fear could eventually be used as military outposts.
Last month, China protested to the US after a US spy plane with a TV crew aboard flew close to the artificial islands it is building.
Chinese Ministry of National Defense Foreign Affairs Office Director Guan Youfei (關友飛) said the two armies could hold joint exercises on land next year based on the code of conduct, “to make sure its terms are implemented correctly,” the newspaper said yesterday.
China’s defense ministry expects the dialogue framework “to open a new channel for leaders in the two armies to raise and discuss issues of mutual concern, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response practices,” government news Web site china.org.cn quoted the ministry as saying.
The new guidelines on air-to-air encounters aim to reduce the risk of miscalculation or accidents when aircraft from the two countries operate close to each other, it said.
China was committed to reaching a consensus on the guidelines before September, it added.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on Thursday met Chinese Central Military Commission Deputy Chairman Fan Changlong (范長龍) and repeated a US call for a halt to land reclamation in the South China Sea, while stressing that the Pentagon remained committed to expanding military contacts with China.
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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
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