As China continues to prepare for WTO accession, Cabinet Secretary General Chiou I-jen (
Chiou also brushed aside concerns that Taiwan may at times have to sacrifice its sovereignty to facilitate cross-strait talks under the framework, saying "the organization, aiming to maximize economic benefits for member countries, would not necessarily exert pressure on any particular country for political purposes."
Chiou, taking afternoon tea with reporters, made the comments to counter an oft-repeated Chinese line that if Taiwan plays the sovereignty card in the WTO, it is unlikely to win support from other countries, which may, instead, pressure Taiwan into accepting China's "one China" principle.
Chiou said that the WTO framework would only be one of three established forums for cross-strait dialogue, which also include the semi-official link between Taipei's Straits Exchange Foundation (
China, however, has previously rejected the idea that the WTO would provide a new forum for Taiwan and China to discuss cross-strait issues such as the opening of the three direct links (三通), according to a mid-June report in a Beijing mouthpiece, Hong Kong's Wen Hui Daily (香港文匯報).
"Cross-strait problems such as the three links are an issue between the two sides ... and should only be discussed through already established channels," the report quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying.
DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (
But such a strategy is forbidden in China's eyes. The anonymous Beijing official stressed that China was "opposed to internationalizing the cross-strait issue and dragging it into international mechanisms for discussion," said the report.
Chiou, however, said that the WTO had established mechanisms for its member countries to engage in what he said was "the customary practice" of conducting bilateral and multilateral talks, which both sides of the Strait would "just have to abide by."
He also commented yesterday on the prospective alliance between former president Lee Teng-hui (
"China, viewing the Lee-Chen lobby as a pro-independence force, will certainly cast greater doubts on Chen's cross-strait stance, which may force Chen to prolong his [indirect] communication with China to enhance mutual trust," Chiou said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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