Deals with China should be included in the Legislative Yuan’s scheduled discussion on the draft treaty act as “a safety valve” is necessary for the future handling of cross-strait negotiations, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus said yesterday.
“The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus is advised to support the inclusion of China in the deliberation of the treaty act next week because early consultation, better communication and the room for renegotiation are all necessary in cross-strait engagements so that the interests of Taiwanese would be protected,” DPP lawmaker Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) told a news conference.
After President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged inter-party collaboration in his New Year speech on Wednesday, the DPP proposed the establishment of a Legislative Yuan panel on cross-strait affairs, Gao added.
Responding to the initiative, KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said the procedure for legislative monitoring of cross-strait agreements is already in place, adding that while improvements to the mechanism are welcome, the DPP should not use procedural issues to block the cross-strait service trade agreement, which was signed in June last year, but has yet to clear the legislature.
“[The DPP’s] blocking of the service trade agreement would jeopardize Taiwan’s future economic development,” Lin said.
Lin said that ties between Taiwan and China are not country-to-country relations, but the DPP has always argued that China should be treated in the same manner as other countries when it comes to negotiations, treaties and agreements.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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