Advisers to the Mainland Affairs Council generally agreed yesterday that China's new leaders are realists who will be prepared to deal with with President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration the same way their predecessors did -- under the table and with little prospect of formal talks.
"The advisers agreed that the new leaders are realists who would do whatever they had to from the perspective of defending and protecting the Communist Party's interests. On that basis, it was concluded that the Chinese leaders would definitely deal with President Chen," said Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏), director of the MAC's Research and Planning Department.
Jan made the remarks at a press conference after the first meeting of the council's advisers since the Chinese Communist Party's 16th National Congress ended last week.
He said the advisers evaluated the impact of Beijing's leadership change on China's domestic politics, its economy and cross-strait policy.
Jan explained that the advisers believe that China's international and cross-strait policies would remain unchanged, since the new leaders would follow the approach adopted by President Jiang Zemin (
He said the advisers had concluded that China will promote lower level cross-strait economic exchanges in the coming years, since it is accelerating the development of its private enterprises.
"Cross-strait exchanges have been focused on academics and business tycoons. But with the new direction of China's economic development, cross-strait exchanges will take place at the managerial level or will focus on the transfer of technology, such as agricultural technology, since they need to learn such know-how from Taiwan," Jan said.
He said the advisers warned that economic problems might shake China's stability, including its banks' non-performing loans and high unemployment.
"One advisor who has just come back from northeastern China said that the unemployment rate is as high as 20 percent to 30 percent. This is a time bomb that could explode any time," Jan said.
The advisers also predicted that Jiang would step down as head of China's Central Military Commission next March.
They thought Jiang might be holding onto the post in a bid to prevent disputes between rival factions.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost