President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he had no immediate plans to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) despite his intention to improve cross-strait relations, and repeated his call on China to remove the missiles it targets at Taiwan.
“I don’t think [a meeting with Hu] is an issue of urgency,” Ma said during an interview with CNN’s Talk Asia aired yesterday.
Asked if he would oblige if Hu invited him personally, Ma said the time for a meeting with Chinese leaders was not ripe.
Describing Hu and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) as “tough” but “pragmatic” leaders, Ma said dialogue between the two sides should be conducted by “white gloves,” a reference to the Straits Exchanges Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
Asked to comment on the implementation of the cross-strait weekend charter flights launched on July 4, Ma said the policy showed Taiwan’s determination to achieve peace and prosperity with China.
“The two sides were enemies for more than 60 years. Now suddenly they talk about tourism, they talk about exchange of students and trade. This is something very important and this is historic,” Ma said.
While seeking to improve cross-strait relations, Ma acknowledged that Taiwan’s international space and national security remained unresolved matters.
“These issues are very complex and are interconnected. We have already requested that the [about 1,300] missiles be removed,” Ma said.
“We don’t want to negotiate a peace agreement with the mainland under a missile threat,” he said.
Ma said it was important that Taiwan and China be willing to set aside disputes and proceed with more urgent matters.
On US-Taiwan relations, Ma said he expected the relations to remain unchanged after a new US administration comes into office next year, as the country would promote peaceful cross-strait relations.
“Whoever gets elected, they will look after US national interests in this part of the world,” he said.
In office for merely two months, Ma said the “rising oil and food prices” represented the biggest challenge to his administration, adding that he would shoulder his responsibilities as president.
Ma promised to lay the foundations for prosperity in Taiwan during his four-year term, adding that the country would have a bright future if his administration successfully improved relations with China.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
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