The liberalization of translation services across the Taiwan Strait, scheduled to take effect following the ratification of the cross-strait service trade agreement, could be part of Beijing’s “cultural unification” efforts and it would also hurt the sector in Taiwan, a lawmaker said yesterday.
Chinese competitors could leverage their higher capital and lower costs to purchase translation copyrights and squeeze out Taiwanese companies from government tenders once the pact takes effect, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) told a press conference yesterday.
“Intellectual property rights of corporate products and confidentiality of government documents would be concerns,” Hsu said.
“The further integration of translation services across the Strait poses another risk — Beijing’s censorship of literary works. In order to gain access to the Chinese market, Taiwanese authors and publishers could be forced to remove content that Beijing deems inappropriate,” Hsu said.
Government officials at the press conference played down the concerns, with Lee Pei-ju (李佩儒) of the Mainland Affairs Council saying that the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission would place national security and cultural concerns high on its agenda.
Chou Kuo-chin (周國欽), a deputy counselor in the ministry’s Department of Commerce, said the sector had been liberalized after the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was signed in 2009, but there is no Chinese investment in the sector at present.
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
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
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