Vice Premier and soon-to-be premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday said that president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) attitude would determine whether the negotiation for a cross-strait trade in goods agreement could continue, calling on Tsai to “recognize” the results so far achieved by the negotiation team.
In a radio interview, Chang said his Chinese counterpart has an “ambivalent” attitude regarding the agreement, as “they do not know whether the negotiation and the outcome achieved so far will count when the next administration takes office, since there have been calls to scrap the cross-strait service trade agreement and restart negotiations.”
Chang said the current administration has little power over the fate of the deal and it depends on messages from Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party in the next few months and Beijing’s reactions to them to keep the negotiations on track.
Photo: CNA
He said that the negotiators are all expert civil servants with no political affiliations.
“While the content of the negotiation should not be disclosed, I can assure you that so far we have gained better terms than what South Korea has secured in its free-trade agreement with China,” Chang said.
Chang said that the government would transfer every detail of the negotiations to the new government and it is up to the new administration to decide whether the negotiations are to be continued, adding that the possibility of the agreement being signed when he is in office is extremely slim.
The “cross-strait hotline” between the Mainland Affairs Council and the Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office, set up at the end of last year, has reportedly been “cut off” since the Jan. 16 elections, Chang said during the interview.
“The line is still there, but it is another matter if they want to pick it up,” he said.
As for the rumor that Beijing has cut the number of Chinese tourists allowed to travel to Taiwan in response to the election results, Chang said the Chinese side has denied the allegation while domestic travel agencies confirmed it.
“Although they have denied it, we still have our own observations,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make your own judgment when it comes to the cross-strait relationship.”
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese