The latest round of cross-strait talks is to be held on May 23 in Kinmen, with the issue of Taiwan’s intention to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to be discussed, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) spokesperson Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅) said yesterday.
Wu said that both sides have agreed to add the issue of Taiwan’s participation in the nascent multilateral lender to the agenda of the meeting, which was originally scheduled for early February, between council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) and Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍).
It is set to be Hsia’s first meeting with Zhang, and the third set of high-level cross-strait talks since the first official contact between the governments on either side of the Taiwan Strait took place in Beijing in February last year.
The Hsia-Zhang meeting scheduled in February was canceled amid the dispute over China’s unilateral decision to open the M503 flight route and three feeder routes over the Taiwan Strait, which was implemented on March 29 after revisions that saw the M503 path moved westward and the feeder routes temporarily suspended.
Other issues for the upcoming meeting remained the same as those scheduled for February’s meeting, including the ongoing project for Kinmen to tap drinking water from China, seaborne garbage originating from China, sea sand quarrying and illegal fishing by Chinese, promotion of tourism to China in Kinmen, and freight facilitation measures for cargo ships through the so-called “small three links,” — between Taiwan’s islands of Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu and China, Wu said.
Meanwhile, Wu said Hsia would lodge a protest with Zhang over the new version of China’s national security act that obliges, Taiwanese to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling it a common obligation of all Chinese, including Taiwanese, Hong Kongers and Macanese.
On May 24, Zhang is set to meet with Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海) and representatives of local businesses.
He is also scheduled to visit some manufacturers of local products, such as Kaoliang liquor, peanut candy and steel knives before he returns to China later that day, Wu said.
The Democratic Progressive Party issued a statement late on Thursday in response to the planned meeting saying that while the party views cross-strait exchanges in a positive light, they should be conducted in accordance with principles of “sovereignty, equality, and democracy.”
Cross-strait talks cannot be held in a way that would harm the interests of Taiwan, evade legislative supervision, or involve issues of a political nature, DPP spokesperson Wang Ming-sheng (王閔生) said.
The issue of whether Taiwan should be part of the AIIB is a matter of significance, high political sensitivity and complexity that deserves thorough assessment and discussions in the legislature before a decision is made, Wang said.
“It is not a decision that the government can make in a rash and unilateral way. It should never be treated as a black-box issue,” he said.
The DPP demanded that Hsia explain to the public whether the council has the mandate from the Executive Yuan to negotiate the AIIB issue with China as required by the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Wang said.
Hsia should also take the opportunity to clarify to China that Taiwan does not accept the “one China” framework imposed by China or the way Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) characterized cross-strait relations as “both sides belonging to ‘one China’” in statements to lawmakers, Wang said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner