Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Chen Ming-tong (
During a meeting of the Home and Nations Committee yesterday, 46 KMT legislators, including Lee Chi-chu (
The amendment proposes that the government not be permitted to bar Taiwanese businesspeople from investing in mass produced items in China because to do so would violate international treaties.
Lee said the amendment would benefit Taiwan's semiconductor, liquid-crystal-display panel, packaging and petrochemical industries.
But Chen told the committee meeting that the government had considered international treaties, national defense and the economy when it barred investments in those industries in China.
"I don't think it is really a thorough proposal if legislators who proposed this amendment simply considered international treaties as the only factor," he said.
"The amendment would have widespread impact. We need to be meticulous about it," he said.
He said government polls over the past three years had showed that more than 50 percent of the respondents expect the government to tighten restrictions on China-bound investments. Only around 30 percent of respondents thought the restrictions should be loosened.
"Judging from these surveys, most people think it is necessary for the government to tighten regulations on investments, otherwise core industries or major high-tech processes will be moved from Taiwan to China," he said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator David Huang (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuo Jung-chung (
Lee said that although Taiwan's information technology industries faced massive competition from their international counterparts, they had been hindered by the restrictions on China-bound investment, which had reduced their competitiveness.
"It is essential, therefore, to allow those items," Lee said.
The committee chairman, Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Tsai Hau (
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net