Taiwan Provincial Farmers' Association (TPFA) delegates will abide by the country's laws and respect the government's authority while discussing details of fruit exports to China with Chinese representatives next week, TPFA chairman Liu Chuan-chung (劉銓忠) said yesterday.
According to Liu, who is also a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, neither side will release any statement after the talks.
He was responding to a media report that the TPFA will send delegates to China next week to hold talks with Chinese representatives on details of fruit exports to China and that Taiwanese fruits are expected to be granted tariff-free treatment by Beijing by July.
The report said the TPFA, instead of signing an agreement, might release a joint statement with China's Ministry of Commerce after the talks to bypass Taiwanese laws that prohibit civic organizations from negotiating or establishing an agreement with Chinese authorities without the government's authorization.
Liu claimed the trip is being arranged at the invitation of the Cross-Strait Association on Trade Exchanges, a non-profit organization set up by China's Ministry of Commerce, and that the talks will be between two civic organizations.
He said the TPFA is only trying to help farmers sell their fruits in China, which he called a "purely business activity."
He said that he is a law-abiding person and will not do anything detrimental to national interests.
Lai Ching-te (賴清德), a DPP legislative caucus whip, said that the government has decided to authorize the Taiwan External Trade Development Council to negotiate with China under the WTO framework on details concerning the sale of agricultural products to China.
But Beijing is trying to deal with the issue as some kind of domestic transaction and to downgrade the status of Taiwan to become a local government under China by opting to hold talks with the TPFA, Lai said, urging the TPFA not to fall into the trap set by Beijing.
In response to the report, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday that the Taiwan Provincial Farmers' Association could violate the law if they talk with China on matters concerning the exercise of public interest.
The MAC said in a statement that if the TPFA only wants to exchange views with China, the government will not oppose such a move, but if the association, without prior authorization, goes to China to consult on matters that need to be conducted via public authorities, then the government will have to deal with the situation according to the law.
The statement noted that the government has not placed any restrictions on fruits exported to China. But it said that China should take the initiative to improve such problems as high tariffs, poor marketing networks and warehousing facilities.
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said earlier in the week that the government will commission the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) to help with the communications and arrangement of such matters as tariffs, quarantines, inspections and customs clearance with the other side of the Taiwan Strait, the MAC said.
You Ying-lung (游盈隆), MAC vice chairman and spokesman, said that professionalism is required in negotiating issues regarding agricultural products, and TAITRA could integrate the TPFA and other related agencies to form a strong negotiation team.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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