Cross-strait relations showed no signs of improving, despite Lee Yuan-tseh (
At a press conference prior his departure, Lee said that during his exchange with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
"He immediately responded that, under the `one China' principle, both sides can sit down and talk," Lee said.
"I then told him that Chen had mentioned before that the `one China' issue could be negotiated in the future," he said.
Lee said he had also conveyed Chen's greeting to US President George W. Bush.
"And when I was trying to say more, he smiled and said that we'd talked a lot about cross-strait issues last year and he told me that after talking to me last year, he had less fear about cross-strait [relations] because he trusted my words," Lee said.
Lee said Bush responded. "We will stay," after Lee expressed his gratitude for US support for Taiwan.
Saying that other APEC leaders were friendly, Lee added that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was surprised that he could converse with him Japanese.
Lee departed shortly after the press conference for Vietnam, where he is slated to deliver a speech at the Asian Chemistry Congress.
Meanwhile, at a press conference at the Shangri-la Hotel, where the Chinese delegation stayed, Hu said the `one China' policy is the premise for any resumption of cross-strait talks.
"China is willing to resume cross-strait talks under the premise of the `one China' principle," Hu said.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS