President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday reiterated her determination to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the second round of negotiations, but remained silent on speculation that her administration’s approval of Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun’s (沈呂巡) resignation was due to a plan to make a transit stop in the US on her visit to Panama next month.
Tsai made the remarks at a meeting with US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific chairman Matt Salmon and US Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson at the Presidential Office Building yesterday morning.
“Trade ties between our two nations have been extremely close. Taiwan was listed as the US’ ninth-biggest trading partner last year, while Washington was Taipei’s second-largest trading partner,” Tsai said.
The government plans to seek membership in the TPP in the second round of negotiations, Tsai said, asking for the support of members of the US Congress.
Taiwan has repeatedly expressed its desire to enter the TPP, but the nation’s reluctance to open its door to imports of US pork containing residue of the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine has raised doubts about its determination to ease import restrictions.
Tsai’s administration has been perceived as leaning toward easing the import ban, particularly after Minister of Agriculture Tsao Chi-hung’s (曹啟鴻) remarks last month that Taiwan does not have the leverage to refuse imports of US pork containing ractopamine.
Earlier yesterday, when on her way to cast a ballot in New Taipei City in an election for the cadres of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) local branches, Tsai declined to respond to questions regarding the reasons behind what some consider was the swift approval of Shen’s resignation.
It is reported that the move was prompted by Tsai’s alleged plan to make transit stops in Miami and Los Angles during her trip to Panama, which has invited her to attend the inauguration ceremony for the expanded Panama Canal next month.
According to a news release issued by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US on Saturday, Shen on April 15 tendered his resignation and applied for retirement as the scheduled government transition approached, but then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did not approve his resignation.
“Shen originally thought there would be ample time left for him to bid a proper farewell to his associates after the new government approved his resignation, but he was ordered to leave his post early next month,” the office said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) yesterday said that as the upcoming ceremony is an important event held by one of Taiwan’s most significant diplomatic allies, the ministry suggested that Tsai accept the invitation.
“Once the ministry receives instructions from the president, we make an all-out effort to lay out and execute plans for her international trips,” Wang said, adding that the planning process would not start without the president’s orders.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS