With the third round of high-level cross-strait talks approaching, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday admitted there were difficulties in signing four agreements with Beijing, including regular aviation flights and financial cooperation.
MAC Deputy Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said Taipei hoped to sign three memoranda of understanding (MOU) on banking, securities and futures, and insurance with Beijing. Both sides had also engaged in talks covering currency exchange and a clearing mechanism for the Chinese yuan.
However, because of some “technology issues” and differing industry demands, Liu said the two sides had agreed to sign a general financial cooperation agreement instead. The pact would include common areas in banking, securities and futures, insurance and currency exchange.
Individual financial supervisory agencies would then follow up by making more detailed arrangements, such as inking separate MOUs on banking, securities and futures, and insurance.
On regular aviation flights, Liu said progress had been limited because of several sticking points. He did not elaborate.
As for cooperating in combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liu said both sides would seek to establish a communication mechanism for judicial cases and an institutionalized cooperation framework in investigation, intelligence exchange and extradition of criminals.
The purpose was to ensure people's rights on both sides of the Taiwan strait and upgrade the effectiveness of judicial cases, he said.
The meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) will be held next month or in June. The preparatory meetings will decide the time, place and agenda of the Chiang-Chen meeting.
Whether the agreements will need legislative review or merely ratification will depend on their content, Liu said.
Article 5 of the Act Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) states that all treaties that require legal revision or legislation must be reviewed by the legislature. Those that do not require revision or legislation must be ratified by the legislature.
Asked about the administration's plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement with Beijing, Liu said both sides were still studying the issue, communicating with the public and consolidating consensus.
Liu added that the fourth Chiang-Chen meeting “will definitely touch on the issue.”
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS