State-run CPC Corp Taiwan (CPC,
Both CPC and the Ministry of Economic Affairs refused to confirm the deal yesterday for fears of pressure from China to thwart it.
"I have no comment as such deals may be canceled if China tries to exert pressure," Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (
But Roger Martin, a spokesman at Perth-based Woodside, yesterday confirmed that its chief executive officer Don Voelte and CPC chairman Pan Wenent (潘文炎) will take part in a signing ceremony on Friday.
The agreement that will be signed is the same as a November accord that set out key terms including prices, he said.
In November, Woodside agreed to provide CPC with between 2 million and 3 million tonnes of natural gas annually, effective from 2013, an Economic Daily report said yesterday.
The contract will be the nation's largest natural gas purchase contract and worth more than the A$35 billion (US$32.38 billion) contract China and Australia signed in September.
CPC said the new deal will help resolve a domestic natural gas shortage after Indonesia's Badak field, which accounted for nearly 27 percent of the nation's natural gas supply, discontinued its contract with CPC this year.
Taiwan forecasts demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) will rise 28 percent to 10.5 million tonnes in 2010 from last year, after construction of additional cleaner-burning gas-fired generators. CPC will spend between A$35 billion and A$45 billion for between 2 million and 3 million tonnes annually over 20 years from Woodside's proposed Browse project off northwestern Australia, Martin said.
Woodside, 34 percent owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, is the operator of the Browse LNG project, in which BHP Billiton Ltd, BP Plc, Chevron Corp and Shell have stakes. Voelte said last week that Woodside would market LNG from the project on behalf of the venture partners.
Woodside signed a similar accord in September to sell the same volume of LNG from the Browse project to PetroChina Co.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS