The Presidential Office said yesterday that the government would stick to its plan after China yesterday offered to start talks on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) “as early as possible.”
The response came after China’s state media reported yesterday that Beijing planned to launch official discussions for closer economic cooperation with Taiwan before the end of the year.
“We are willing to negotiate with Taiwan and launch official discussions on a cross-strait economic cooperation agreement ... as early as possible before the year’s end,” Taiwan Affairs Office chief Wang Yi (王毅) was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
Wang said talks could take place between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and the Straits Exchange Foundation “if both sides consider it necessary.”
Asked whether ECFA talks could be moved forward, Presidential Office Spokesperson Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the government would proceed according to plan on ECFA talks with China in the hope that the two sides would build peace together.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said during his speech marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kuningtou that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should substitute peace for opposition and take advantage of cross-strait talks to build peace, adding that this viewpoint had not changed, Wang Yu-chi said.
The next round of talks would be held in Taichung in mid or late December, the fourth round of meetings since last year.
Speaking during a cross-strait symposium in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, Wang Yi said Beijing was willing to “further interact with Taiwan to solve problems concerning cross-strait economic exchanges and push the economic relations between the two sides to a new level.”
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