The US has put forth a draft extradition treaty with Taiwan, Taiwan’s Deputy Representative to the US Leo Lee (李澄然) said in Washington on Thursday.
The two sides are currently negotiating details to resolve differences, Lee said, adding that the agreement will need to be endorsed by both countries’ legislatures after it is signed.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials remained tight-lipped on the treaty when asked to comment.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said Taiwan and the US are seeking to enhance judicial cooperation on the basis of the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (台美刑事司法互助協定), which was signed in 2002, by signing an extradition treaty.
However, Yang added he was not aware of the draft extradition treaty presented by the US.
Also saying he had no comment, director-general of the ministry’s Department of North American Affairs Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達) said the time was not ripe for the ministry to reveal any negotiation details.
“There is still much to study as the US is a common law country, while Taiwan’s legal system is a civil law system. In addition to the differences in the legal systems adopted, both sides have different concerns on the extradition treaty,” Linghu said.
According to Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌), Taiwan began to talk with the US about signing such a treaty in 2008, but the ministry had no understanding of the content of the draft put forward by the US.
In October, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton was quoted as saying in an interview with the Chinese--language United Daily News that one complicated issue involved in the matter was whether Taiwanese holding US citizenship could be extradited under the treaty.
AIT did not comment yesterday, citing the need to clarify information with Washington.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS