The deputy chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) arrived in Taipei yesterday to finalize an “early harvest” list in a meeting today at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.
Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) and Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) are scheduled to discuss the early harvest list and an agreement on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.
They will also finalize the time and place of next week’s meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunling (陳雲林).
The government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China is scheduled to be signed during the Chiang-Chen meeting.
Chiang expressed his optimism about the negotiations on the early harvest list at a press conference yesterday.
He also said his meeting with Chen should take place in Chongqing, China, from Monday to Wednesday next week.
“I think Taiwan should be able to get more items on the list ... the content of the list and the time and location of the cross-strait talks will be announced today,” he said, declining to confirm whether the proposed ECFA would be signed next Tuesday.
The early harvest lists refer to goods and services that will be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions, which are expected to form the backbone of the proposed cross-strait deal.
Both countries have reached a consensus to include more than 500 items on Taiwan’s early harvest list — including petrochemicals, machinery, auto parts and textile industries — as well as more than 200 on China’s list.
Chiang said the two sides would continue their negotiations about opening up cross-strait trade in more items after the proposed ECFA is signed.
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 fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS