American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt met Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, with their talks focusing on cross-strait trade deals and Taiwan’s relationship with the US.
AIT Director William Stanton accompanied Burghardt, who is on a four-day trip to Taiwan to brief officials on US-China developments following a state visit to Washington by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last week.
CLOSED-DOOR MEETING
Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), head of the DPP’s international affairs department, said many topics were addressed during the 80 minute closed-door meeting, adding that the emphasis was on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed between Taiwan and China last June.
The Joint Statement issued after US President Obama met Hu last week lauded the ECFA.
Explaining its inclusion, Burghardt said that Washington viewed the ECFA as a means by which to reduce cross-strait tensions.
Economic agreement
However, Tsai disagreed with that interpretation, saying the agreement should primarily be construed as an economic agreement, Hsiao told reporters after the meeting.
“For Taiwan, what we care about is the impact of the ECFA on unemployment, income disparity and the [economy]. While these are matters the US isn’t focusing on, they are the realities Taiwan must face,” Hsiao said.
REAFFIRMATION
During the meeting, Tsai also told Burghardt she was happy to see Obama reaffirm the Taiwan Relations Act during a joint press conference with Hu, in contrast with the failure to do so prior to the issuance of the Joint Statement in 2009 when Obama was in Beijing, Hsiao said.
That statement said: “The two sides agreed that respecting each other’s core interests is extremely important to ensure steady progress in US-China relations.”
However, US officials have denied that “core interests” referred to Taiwan.
“Compared with the previous Joint Statement, no words that caused harm to Taiwan appeared this time around,” Hsiao said, adding that the DPP was “very pleased.”
Tsai also expressed concerns over the close ties between President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and Beijing, adding that the DPP hoped Taiwan would instead deepen ties with the US, Japan and other major democratic countries, Hsiao said.
DOMESTIC ISSUES
Turning to more domestic issues, Tsai briefed Stanton and Burghardt on the DPP’s preparations for the upcoming legislative and presidential elections after they inquired about Taiwan’s electoral developments, Hsiao said.
Burgardt, who was on his 10th visit to Taiwan as AIT chairman, is scheduled to leave Taiwan today.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS