The Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration is considering further relaxing cross-strait economic policy before Chen steps down in May, a plan which is supported by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), an official at the Presidential Office who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday.
The official said that further opening of cross-strait trade had always been the government's policy. Measures being considered include expanding the "small three links" and granting amnesty to Taiwanese businesspeople defying government bans on investment in China.
Asked whether the measures would be implemented before Chen's term ends on May 20, the official said: "There is no point in delaying if we can do it now."
As long as the "effective opening, active management" principle is upheld, the measures would be prioritized as long as they do not require bilateral negotiations or legal revisions, the official said.
The Economic Daily News reported in yesterday's edition that in order to lure China-based Taiwanese businesspeople home, Chen intends to ease cross-strait economic policy before he steps down on May 20.
Measures would include granting an amnesty to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople who have defied government bans on investment, adjusting the taxation system and expanding the "small three links" before direct cross-strait transportation takes place, the report said.
The report said that Chen made the decision on Friday, when he met Taiwanese businesspeople based in China at the Presidential Office.
The official said China-based Taiwanese businesspeople wanted the government to establish a mechanism to allow them to return and that they were willing to pay taxes, but they would like to see the government grant an amnesty to those investing in China before they would return.
While the "small three links" cover travel to Fujian Province, the government was considering expanding it to other areas which would allow more people to take advantage of the routes, the official said.
Meanwhile, Cheng Wen-tsang (
The aim was to upgrade Taiwan's competitiveness, not to court potential voters for the presidential election, he said, emphasizing that it would be a gradual process and must be achieved step by step.
Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), another spokesperson for Hsieh, said that Hsieh supports any policy that serves the best interests of the public.
Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
Emphasizing that the policy had nothing to do with the upcoming election, Shieh said the administration, regardless of who was in power, was duty bound to create an environment attractive to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople.
In related news, Frank Hsieh yesterday invited Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to visit Taiwan and negotiate on cross-strait relations in Kinmen if he is elected next month.
Dubbing it the "Kinmen declaration," Frank Hsieh, who was in Kinmen yesterday, said that he would like to see Taiwan become a "no-war zone" and Kinmen a "special peace area."
He would also like to see the nation help to advance China's democratization.
Hsieh said he would like to invite Hu to visit Kinmen, where they could sit down and talk about bilateral economic development, peaceful co-existence and their responsibility to the international community.
He urged both sides to put aside their disputes and refrain from letting complicated issues hamper the development of ones that are easier to solve.
When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) applauded the president's plans to relax cross-strait policies and urged Chen to begin by arranging charter flights starting on March 1 for Taiwanese based in China to return to vote in next month's presidential election.
Asked to comment on a campaign to boycott the two UN referendums, Ma reiterated his stance that he does not oppose the referendums, but he is against holding the referendums in conjunction with an election.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS