Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said yesterday that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had instructed government agencies to enhance communication with middle and low-income-earners and small and medium-sized enterprises concerning the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The government has also resolved to make extra efforts to explain the ECFA to people in central and southern Taiwan, she said.
“[The communication will include] details about ECFA negotiations and explain why [the government] must push the ECFA, including the agreement’s significance and importance for Taiwan,” Lai said. “We will communicate to the public using clear language.”
Lai said Taiwan and China had reached a consensus during the first round of ECFA negotiations last week to complete the signing by June, when the fifth round of cross-strait negotiations are scheduled.
She made the remarks on her way to a closed-door briefing with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and legislators. Lai and Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) were invited to brief Wang and representatives of the legislature’s three caucuses.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus refused to participate in the meeting and called on Wang to form a task force to supervise cross-strait development.
DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said his caucus rejected MAC’s use of an unofficial occasion to talk about ECFA negotiations. The caucus said that significant cross-strait policies should be heard about and overseen by the legislature.
The DPP caucus has accused Ma and his government of denying the legislature’s right to supervise cross-strait policy and negotiations.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) told reporters after the briefing that the government promised to keep the legislature informed about progress on the ECFA negotiations, with five briefings to Wang and caucus officials between this month and June and five reports to joint legislative meetings.
Lin said the government would give details of the ECFA to the legislature for review after the agreement is signed.
Meanwhile, Wang’s plan to invite the KMT and DPP caucuses to talk about the need to set up a task force to oversee cross-strait affairs failed.
“This shows that whoever is in power is afraid of legislative oversight,” Wang said.
Wang said the negotiation session had been postponed until next Wednesday.
He said the KMT caucus had also proposed a similar task force when the DPP was in power, but the plan was rejected by the DPP caucus.
After the DPP caucus called for the task force on Tuesday, the KMT caucus said it might be redundant as committees already have the power to supervise cross-strait affairs.
At a separate setting, the Presidential Office yesterday said it would continue communicating with Wang about the proposal.
Wang said the task force was necessary because non-committee members cannot attend committee meetings when executive branches deliver reports.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), however, cast doubt on the speaker’s remark about only committee members being able to attend the meeting.
Legislative rules stipulate that non-committee members may only attend committee meetings by invitation.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING AND RICH CHANG
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS