President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is completely ignoring the hostility China has displayed toward Taiwan and its ultimate purpose to bring Taiwan into its fold by offering immunity and privileges to a planned representative office for China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in Taiwan, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said yesterday.
The move is tantamount to opening the door to Chinese spies and helping China take over Taiwan, he added.
The Cabinet on Thursday approved a draft bill governing the establishment of representative offices on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Under the bill, the ARATS branches in Taiwan and staff at the offices would be granted certain special rights to allow them to carry out their duties without legal interference.
Included in the special rights are provisions that no one can enter the branches without the permission of those offices; their property and assets would be immune from search, confiscation or expropriation; and documents and archives would be inviolable. The bill stipulates that Chinese staff at the ARATS offices in Taiwan would enjoy immunity from Taiwan’s jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in the exercise of their duties, and would have certain tax exemptions and other privileges to be decided at the discretion of the Cabinet.
Huang, who formerly served as Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) minister, said that even the US, a close friend of Taiwan, does not give judicial immunity to Taiwanese diplomats, “and yet the Ma government is giving China such privileges, which could constitute a substantial threat to Taiwan’s national security.”
Huang questioned the use of setting up such offices, saying that as the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, as well as tourism agencies, already have offices in China, he saw no legitimate reason to set up another governmental office.
It is “international common knowledge” that Chinese embassy officials are tasked with multiple jobs, one of which is espionage, he said.
“It is surprising the Ma administration would allow such privileges to the Chinese despite this knowledge. The staff sent to Taiwan may attempt to gather sensitive information during their stay,” he said.
Taiwan is a country governed by the rule of law, but China is a country governed by the word of men, Huang said.
To give Chinese officials in Taiwan judicial immunity is to sanction illegal activities during their stay in Taiwan, Huang added, calling for the labor and financial sectors to be on the alert as the Chinese government often supports corporate espionage to steal intellectual property or corporate secrets.
Democratic Progressive Party Policy Research Committee Executive Director Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who also once served as MAC minister, said that for such offices to be set up, three prerequisites must be met: first, the offices cannot evolve into the equivalent of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; second, the office’s mandate must be clearly defined; third, the offices should adhere to international diplomatic regulations.
Taiwan does not need a platform for China’s “united front” (統戰) tactics, he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS