Taiwan will propose a new working panel to the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee (ECC) to help firms tap the Chinese market, as the committee prepares for its first meeting next week, officials said yesterday.
According to officials with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Taiwan hopes to establish the panel under the committee to address bilateral industrial collaboration so as to help Taiwan’s firms seize opportunities in the Chinese market before China launches its 12th Five-Year Plan in the second half of this year.
The panel is designed to boost cross-strait cooperation in the LED and green businesses, two sectors Taiwan has placed high on its agenda for development.
The ECC, formed to bolster the implementation of the tariff-cutting Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), has decided to establish working groups to discuss merchandise trade, service businesses and dispute settlement between the two nations.
Representatives from Taiwan and China will begin their three-day ECC meeting on Tuesday in Taoyuan. Panel delegates will discuss rules and announce the start of negotiations in the three fields and continue ensuing negotiations in an investment guarantee pact, MOEA officials said.
Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中), deputy chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and Jiang Zengwei (姜增偉), deputy minister of China’s Commerce Ministry, will arrive in Taiwan tomorrow They will meet with their Taiwanse counterparts led by Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉).
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese