Chinese trade negotiators have largely given up hope of reaching a EU-type agreement with the US on resolving a simmering row over textile quotas, state press said yesterday.
A second round of technical talks on China's booming textile exports were to be held yesterday in Beijing, the final round before a major bilateral trade meeting next week, the Oriental Morning Post reported.
"There is little likelihood for a lot of progress [on textiles] coming out of this round of Sino-US consultations; most of the discussions will be aimed at preparing for the Sino-US Joint Committee on Commerce and Trade (JCCT)," the paper quoted Commerce Ministry officials as saying.
US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, US Trade Representative Rob Portman and US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns will hold discussions in Beijing with Vice Premier Wu Yi (吳儀) and Trade Minister Bo Xilai (薄熙來) at the annual JCCT on Monday.
US officials in Beijing said a series of trade agreements were likely to be signed during the visit but doubted that a specific bilateral agreement on the textile row would be inked.
China and the EU headed off a trade war early last month when they agreed to limit the annual growth of 10 Chinese textile product exports to the EU to between 8.5 and 12.5 percent until the end of 2007. Both sides hailed the agreement as a victory for free trade, with Beijing urging the US to seek a similar pact and forgo unilateral moves, albeit under WTO rules, that will cap the growth of specified imports at 7.5 percent annually until 2007.
The US has placed restrictions on seven Chinese textile products after they rose dramatically into the US following the ending of a global textile tariff system on Jan. 1.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique