The government has started to investigate whether the activities of Centaline Property, a China-based conglomerate, in Taipei to attract local businesses to invest in China are against regulations, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) vice chairman David Huang (黃偉峰) said yesterday.
"We sent officials, together with officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, to the venue where they were supposed to have had activities today, but we found that they have canceled the schedule," Huang told a press conference.
Huang made the remarks in the wake of reports by Chinese-language newspapers yesterday that an official with Centaline Property invited Taiwanese busi-nesspeople in the catering trade to invest in Kunshan, a city in Jiangsu Province.
"Centaline Property planned to establish a Taiwanese snack street in Jiangsu at the expense of 280 million to 320 million yuan (US$34.65 million to US$39.6 million)," deputy director-general of Centaline Wang Zhenguo (王振國) was quoted as saying.
Wang had said that Centaline was also considering duplicating Taiwan's night markets in cities such as Shanghai and Nanjing after the snack street is finished.
Acting on instructions of Jason Hui (許世壇), the executive director of Centaline Property, Wang came to Taiwan with the purpose to sign a cooperative agreement with a local catering business.
Hui was two years ago prohibited from entering Taiwan for five years, after he publicly encouraged Taiwanese businesses to move to China.
In accordance with regulations, the government prohibits Chinese citizens from promoting any business involving real-estate investments in Taiwan.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
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