The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) yesterday confirmed that the first cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee (ECC) meeting will be held from Tuesday to Thursday in Taoyuan. Negotiations will focus on implementing the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was signed with China in June last year.
The ECC, established by the foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), will handle the implementation of the ECFA, which took effect last month. The topics to be discussed include the establishment of working groups, negotiation on follow-up agreements and the implementation of the ECFA’s early-harvest program, the foundation said in a press release.
Top negotiators from the two sides, led by SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (辜孔廉) and ARATS Vice Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中), will start “three plus one” discussions to review the implementation of the early-harvest list, which allows preferential tariff treatment, and the possible opening of trade group offices on either side.
The three plus one talks refer to negotiations on the liberalization of the commodities trade and service sectors, a dispute--resolution mechanism and a cross-strait investment agreement.
Meanwhile, ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) will lead a delegation of officials and Chinese businessmen on a visit to Taiwan on Wednesday for a six-day visit.
During their stay, Chen and the delegation will visit industrial parks, harbors and enterprises in Taipei and southern cities and counties, including Greater Kaohsiung, Chiayi and Yunlin.
It will be the first time that Chen has visited southern cities run by Democratic Progressive Party administrations.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
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A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all