The government would be more likely to terminate portions of an agreement with Beijing than request renegotiation, a high-ranking Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) official said yesterday, adding that the government is committed to “doing all the homework” before a deal is sealed.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said he was baffled by Indonesia’s decision to ask China for renegotiation on a trade deal signed between China and ASEAN countries.
He was referring to an announcement by the Indonesian government on Feb. 9 that it had sent a letter to the Chinese government asking for renegotiation on the ASEAN-China Free-Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement, which went into effect on Jan. 1 this year. The Indonesian industry ministry said the request was because of pressure from its steel industry, which experienced negative growth of 6.7 percent last year.
“I don’t know what happened to their government,” Liu said. “It is their internal problem and [such a request] should not be a norm. It indicated that they didn’t do a good job during the process.”
Once the trade pact is signed, Liu said, each signing party should face pressure from businesses rather than turn around and say they now had a different opinion.
When asked whether he meant the government would not ask for renegotiation with Beijing once an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) is signed, Liu said he did not want to draw such a conclusion because the proposed pact was different from the trade deal between Indonesia and China.
Liu added that since the ECFA would be a framework agreement, both sides would continue to negotiate until all the supplementary agreements had been signed.
“We don’t call it renegotiation,” he said. “There is no such thing as renegotiation. If we decide we don’t want certain items in the trade deal any more, we simply terminate them.”
Liu said almost all free-trade agreements have such a measure in place, which he described as “normal” and “necessary.”
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) has previously said the government was mulling introducing a mechanism in the ECFA that would allow either Taipei or Beijing to suspend the agreement.
Apart from the “early harvest” items, Liu said they hoped the ECFA would address the rampant problem of counterfeiting by Chinese companies.
Recently, a Chinese firm selling liquid-crystal-display (LCD) television sets, Qimei, was found to bear a similar name to Taiwanese LCD panel maker, Chi Mei.
Liu said the Taiwanese firm must first find out whether its Chinese counterpart was officially registered in China before it takes the matter to a Chinese court.
Liu said he was uncertain whether it was the first violation of brand name in the electronics products industry, but similar occurrences were rampant in the agricultural sector.
“It is important to prevent it from happening again,” he said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
Passengers on Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) will be required to use headphones and make phone calls in gangways under new “quiet travel” rules starting Sept. 22. THSR Chairman Shih Che (史哲) told media that THSR will run a three-month promotional campaign to ensure widespread adoption of the new rules. Those repeatedly ignoring the guidance face the potential termination of their transport contract, which can result in them getting escorted off the train, according to THSR. Shih shared his hope to cultivate an environment conducive to rest and reading for the train’s passengers, stating that these changes aim to “promote self-discipline” among passengers
RSS