A watchdog organization yesterday accused the government of overlooking human rights and environmental issues while developing closer economic ties with China.
“At the very beginning of a trade agreement signed between the EU and South Korea, it was mentioned that the environment and human rights should be fully respected in trade relations,” Tseng Chao-ming (曾昭明), a member of Cross-Strait Agreement Watch and secretary-general of Corporate Social Responsibility Taiwan, told the forum. “Unfortunately, such issues are not mentioned at all in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) the government signed with China in June.”
Tseng said human rights and environmental issues were also addressed in the free-trade agreement (FTA) between Taiwan and Panama, while such issues were also mentioned in the FTA between China and New Zealand.
“What good would an economic relationship do if it’s not based on protection of the environment and human rights?” Tseng asked. “Without paying attention to the two areas, the closer cross-strait ties are, the more resentment the people will have.”
Alliance for Fair Tax Reform spokesman Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) said the most important thing in economic development was equal distribution of wealth.
“Looking at the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement [CEPA] between China and Hong Kong — which is very similar to the ECFA — I am quite worried,” Wang said.
“The CEPA has been the source of unequal distribution of wealth in Hong Kong, especially since it introduced massive amounts of capital from China for real estate investment, and made real estate prices too high for the common people in Hong Kong.”
Although the group had invited representatives of the Cabinet, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislative caucuses to attend the meeting, only DPP caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) attended the forum.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
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Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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