Beijing said yesterday that it had noted the postponement of US legislation aimed at slapping sanctions on China for undervaluing its currency, and again cautioned against new measures.
"We have noted the comments of senators [Charles] Schumer and [Charles] Grassley," Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Chong Quan (
"To adopt trade restrictions or trade protectionism will only harm the bilateral interests of Sino-US trade relations and does not conform to the rules of the WTO," he said.
"To maintain and develop the healthy and stable Sino-US trade relationship is in the interests of the two nations," Chong said.
Chong was commenting on a decision by the congressmen on Thursday to hold off until next year in crafting the legislation.
Critics of China argue the yuan is undervalued against the dollar by up to 40 percent, lending an unfair boost to Chinese exports and driving thousands of US businesses to the wall.
A bill by Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsay Graham would have slapped a 27.5 percent tariff on all of China's US-bound exports unless the country moved forcefully to revalue its currency.
Meanwhile, a bill by Grassley would have forced the US administration to veto any increase in the IMF vote of a country with a "fundamentally misaligned" currency.
The lawmakers agreed to hold off on the bills after US Secretary of the TreasuryHenry Paulson succeeded in establishing a new "strategic economic dialogue" between the US and China during a visit to Beijing late last month.
Meanwhile, in an interview to be published in today's edition of the Chinese-language Caijing magazine, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川) reaffirmed China's principle of carrying out gradual foreign exchange reform.
Zhou said that the importance of the basket of currencies to which the yuan is referenced will diminish.
The flexibility of China's currency is gradually being expanded as the influence of market forces grows stronger, he said.
Zhou gave the interview in last month following the IMF and World Bank meetings in Singapore, and Paulson's visit to China.
Caijing, a weekly, is widely respected for its investigative and financial articles.
"China's policy direction on its exchange rate reform is clear cut: to gradually expand flexibility," Zhou said in the interview, a copy of which was seen by Dow Jones Newswires.
"Currently, we are gradually allowing market supply and demand to play a greater role," he said.
"The weight of the role of the basket currency reference is slowly weakening, while market factors are slowly strengthening," Zhou said.
In July last year, Beijing revalued the yuan by 2.1 percent against the US dollar, and scrapped its 11-year-old de facto dollar peg to begin referencing the yuan to a basket of currencies.
Since then, the yuan has risen a total of about 2.6 percent, which some trading partners say is too slow, especially as China's economy has powered ahead at high growth rates and its trade surplus has ballooned.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned