Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday asked government agencies to look into whether goods and passengers will use Kinmen and Matsu as transshipment points on their way to Taiwan after the "small three links" (小三通) policy is put into effect in January.
"If the transfer of goods and passengers from China via Kinmen and Matsu to Taiwan cannot be totally prohibited, the `small three links' will likely to turn into the `big three links,' which will have a negative impact on agriculture in Taiwan," Chang said yesterday morning, in reference to fears that cheap agricultural imports from China might render local agriculture uncompetitive, furthering its decline.
According to measures approved by the Cabinet on Dec. 13, Chinese goods and people will not be allowed to use Kinmen and Matsu as transfer points to Taiwan. However, there is a fear that Taiwanese businessmen will take advantage of the new policy to illegally ship cheap Chinese goods to Taiwan via Kinmen or Matsu.
"The policy provides for trial cross-strait links only, and so [the government] will not allow goods or passengers to be transferred [via Kinmen and Matsu] and sent to Taiwan," deputy secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Yen Wan-chin (
In response, the SEF said yesterday that six inspection posts would be set up in airports, harbors and post offices to prevent such transfers.
In a briefing to a group of members of the Control Yuan, Chan said the opening of the links is part of the government's efforts to show sincerity and goodwill toward China.
Chang said he is hopeful that the "small three links" will begin as scheduled to help forge rapprochement across the Taiwan Strait and to help boost economic development in the two offshore island groups.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the opening of "small three links," the Ministry of Transportation and Communications conducted a rehearsal of immigration and customs clearance services at the newly refurbished passenger service center at Kinmen's Liaolo (
The rehearsal involved a simulation of 200 passengers proceeding with immigration and luggage inspection in preparation for a direct voyage from Kinmen to Xiamen.
KMT Legislator Chen Ching-pao (陳清寶), however, said that the passenger terminal was only large enough to accommodate 200 people at most, so an expansion of the harbor's facilities was necessary.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS