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.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
RSS