■ Foreign affairs
MAC official to visit US
Vice Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) will visit US officials and US think tanks in New York and Washington next month. Tung will be in the US for 10 days. During the visit, Tung will update US officials and academics on Taiwanese political leaders' attitudes towards the arms sales bill and the situation following elections on Dec 9. The progress of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) constitutional reforms will be another topic that Tung will address in Washington.
■ Transportation
Far Eastern to launch service
Far Eastern Air Transport Ltd is scheduled to launch passenger charter flight services between Kaohsiung and Subic Bay on a trial basis from Dec. 17, an official at the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said yesterday. In addition to offering regular flight services to businessmen from Taiwan, the inauguration of the route is expected to help boost the Philippines' tourist industry, the official said. According to the official, Subic Bay boasts a wide variety of leisure and tourist spots in addition to a brisk economy and excellent infrastructure. The official said Taipei and Manila signed an agreement last year to form an economic corridor between Kaohsiung and the Subic-Clark Special Economic Zones, adding that the move will help expand bilateral trade exchanges. According to official statistics, investment by Taiwanese manufacturers accounts for 85 percent of Subic Bay's total export value.
■ Transportation
Freego Bus contract at risk
The Directorate General of Highways (DGH) wants to revoke the right of Freego Bus to operate between Taipei and Kaohsiung after its current contract expires next month. The agency made the proposal on Friday and will send it for review by the freeway route committee at the beginning of next month. If the proposal is upheld, 60 daily bus runs would be canceled. The agency said Freego has had 11 major traffic accidents in the past five years, more than any other bus operators. Last month, a Freego bus ran into an oil truck, killing three people and injuring seven others. The bus company said if the committee approved the proposal it would file an appeal with the Petitions and Appeals Committee of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
■ Trade
Seminar showcases Vietnam
A seminar on Vietnam's investment climate will be held tomorrow in Taipei with the aim of enabling Taiwanese manufacturers to gain a better understanding of that country's economic development and investment policy, a Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) official said yesterday. According to the official, the workshop will be hosted by the Vietnamese central investment authority, the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and the MOEA's Industrial Development and Investment Center. Since Vietnam was admitted into the WTO as its 150th member, the Vietnamese government has taken various steps such as revising its regulations governing foreign investment and business law to lure more foreign investment, the official said. The official further said the accumulated amount of investment by Taiwanese manufacturers in Vietnam has reached around US$8 billion, making Taiwan the largest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian nation.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai