The failure to ink an agreement on avoiding double taxation during cross-strait negotiations will not affect the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), an official from China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) said yesterday.
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his ARATS counterpart Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) decided at a meeting yesterday morning that the next round of cross-strait negotiations will address the signing of an ECFA and the protection of intellectual property rights.
ARATS Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) yesterday played down the effect of the breakdown of the negotiations on double taxation.
Zheng dismissed speculation in the media that opposition from Taiwanese businessmen worried about the leaking of their tax information and disagreements on sovereignty and authority over taxation were the factors behind the negotiation breakdown.
“[Signing only three agreements] shows that the two sides are being practical and open about the problems we encountered during the meeting” Zheng told a press conference at the Windsor Hotel after the meeting.
“There were no political factors [behind the negotiation breakdown] and it will not affect the signing of an ECFA,” he said.
Zheng said it was “normal” for negotiations to break down on complicated issues, adding that placing an issue on the agenda did not guarantee the signing of an agreement.
The two sides will continue negotiating the issue and seek to sign an agreement as soon as possible, he said.
Zheng declined to give a timetable on the signing of an ECFA, but said experts from the two sides would begin negotiations as soon as possible, adding that China would take the capability of Taiwan’s market and Taiwanese acceptance into consideration during the negotiation process.
“The signing of the ECFA is a simple economic issue and we will try our best to maximize the interests and minimize the price both sides have to pay,” he said.
The fifth round of cross-strait negotiations will be held next year in China.
In response to media inquiry about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) suggestion that the SEF find a way to include the opinions of opposition parties in the cross-strait negotiations, Zheng said ARATS would welcome any Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members to have a dialogue with China “as long as they do not engage in Taiwan independence activities.”
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS