The government cited the results of an opinion poll yesterday that showed that nearly 80 percent of respondents supported a decision to put the brakes on signing an investment protection pact with China.
On the reluctance of the government to sign such an agreement, Taiwanese officials have repeatedly said that “the deal should be signed well instead of being signed early.”
Two weeks after the seventh round of top-level talks between Taiwan and China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) survey found that 78.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s decision to not sign the pact hastily, while 17.9 percent were opposed to it and 3.6 percent offered no opinion.
Taiwan and China failed to sign the long-anticipated investment pact during the latest meeting in Tianjin, China, as differences remained on issues such as a dispute arbitration mechanism.
However, according to the council, 71.4 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with progress on the accord.
As for a nuclear safety pact that was signed during the talks, the survey found that more than 70 percent of those polled supported the agreement, while nearly 20 percent said they were not happy with it.
“The survey has shown strong public backing for the results of the latest round of negotiations,” the MAC said in a statement, adding that 84.4 percent of respondents support institutionalized cross-strait talks.
Taiwan and China have signed 16 trade agreements amid improved relations since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in 2008.
However, a heated debate arose recently when Ma late last month said he will “cautiously consider” the possibility of discussing a peace pact with China within the coming decade, should certain preconditions be met.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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