One of China’s “democratic” minority political parties, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) yesterday urged Beijing to end its political impasse with Taiwan once and for all and to build a cross-strait military mechanism to promote mutual trust.
RCCK Vice Chairman Zheng Jianbang (鄭建邦) said that based on the (so-called) “1992 consensus” and an “anti-Taiwan independence” stance, Taipei and Beijing should seek to put an end to their political impasse and build a mutual trust mechanism for specifically for military matters.
The CKRC is one of China’s eight registered minority parties.
CKRC Vice Chairman Zheng Jianbang (鄭建邦) made the proposals at the fifth meeting the 11th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on behalf of the party.
Zheng said ending hostilities and building mutual trust were necessary to secure long-lasting peace across the Taiwan Strait, adding that both sides should work to remove barriers to facilitate the creation of a cross-strait peace accord through dialogue.
He also advocated that China and Taiwan deepen their economic cooperation by synchronizing China’s 12th five-year economic plan (from last year to 2015) with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) economic vision of a “golden decade” for Taiwan.
The two sides should also cooperate more closely in the cultural and creative sector to help sharpen the competitiveness of their products in global markets, Zheng said.
The idea of a cross-strait military trust mechanism has been floated for a number of years and calls for such a development have intensified in recent years.
Earlier this month, Major General Luo Yuan (羅援), a former Chinese deputy minister at the Academy of Military Science, said at the same CPPCC conference that Taiwan and China should strive to emphasize a shared military culture.
However, Luo bemoaned the lack of progress in cross-strait exchanges, which he attributed to foot-dragging on Taipei’s part.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it