Supporters of legislation that would penalize China because of its currency practices said on Wednesday they were delaying a Senate vote on the issue in hopes President George W. Bush could resolve the dispute while in Beijing.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Charles Schumer said they had an agreement with Senate leaders to postpone the vote until at least December.
The proposal, which had the support of 67 senators on a procedural vote last spring, would impose tariffs of 27.5 percent on all Chinese goods entering the US unless China did more to allow its currency to rise in value against the US dollar.
Bush, who is on a weeklong trip to Asia, will be in Beijing tomorrow and Sunday.
"We are hopeful the president's trip to China will achieve positive results," Schumer said in a Senate speech. "We hope and pray that China will move on the issue."
Schumer said under the agreement with Senate leaders, the sponsors will have the right to call up the legislation for a vote before Dec. 23. They also could wait and have a vote before March 21.
Graham said he was "guardedly optimistic" Bush will make progress.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
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‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)