President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he expected the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to deepen cooperation on economic and trade issues, and pledged to strengthen trade relations with the US and other nations as well as resolving the US beef imports dispute.
Ma discussed cross-strait development yesterday as he met with members of the delegation that will attend the Boao Forum on the Chinese island of Hainan from tomorrow to Tuesday. The delegation will be headed by former foreign minister Fredrick Chien (錢復) in his capacity as top advisor to the Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation.
Vice president-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) will also attend the forum as a senior advisor of the foundation. He is scheduled to meet Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) on Sunday and address cross-strait issues. Li is expected to be promoted to premier during the next transition of power in Beijing.
Wu’s meeting with Li will attract intense scrutiny, following the controversy over the “one country, two areas” concept put forward by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing on March 22.
Ma yesterday lauded Chien for pushing for cross-strait economic exchanges via the foundation, and said he expected the nation’s attendance at the forum to help deepen the economic ties between Taiwan and China.
“This year is crucial in the continuous development of cross-strait relations, and the government will continue to adopt a cross-strait policy that will bring more possibilities for cooperation between the two sides,” Ma said at the Presidential Office.
Ma also pledged to develop Taiwan’s trade relations with the US and other nations, as the government plans to relax the ban on US beef containing ractopamine residues.
“We are hoping to solve the US beef issue and other trade problems, so that we can start negotiations with the US on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and resume normal trade relations with our third-largest trade partner. This is a major goal for us,” he said.
According to a Chinese source, China is eager to learn more about Wu when he attends the economic forum.
Wu will reportedly be greeted by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Wang Yi (王毅) when he arrives at Sanya Airport in Hainan. As China has not had much chance to learn about Wu, it is hoping to discover more about this “new friend” at the conference, and foster an understanding between the No. 2 leaders on both sides of the Strait, the Chinese source said, referring to the expected meeting between Wu and Li.
In addition to Wu, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp chairman Schive Chi (薛琦) and Lu Shyue-ching (呂學錦), the chairman of Chunghwa Telecom who also serves as president of the Cloud Computing Association of Taiwan, will take part in group discussions on different themes. Another focus at the forum may be the possible meeting of world flat panel leaders, including Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Samsung Electronics Co chairman Lee Yoon-woo.
Additional reporting by CNA
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS