Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said the two principal problems stalling negotiations on an investment protection pact ahead of the upcoming sixth round of cross-strait talks were differences of opinion on mechanisms to protect Taiwanese investment from expropriation and ensuring the safety of Taiwanese businesspeople.
“Personal safety and expropriation of property are the two issues of most concern to Taiwan. We maintain that when disputes arise, such cases should be submitted for international arbitration or international litigation [at the WTO], but the Chinese side does not agree,” Wu said. “We still need to work this out.”
A Chinese delegation headed by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) is expected to arrive in Taipei later this month to hold negotiations with the Straits Exchange Foundation on an investment protection agreement and another on medical and health cooperation.
On Monday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, which would not confirm information that the next round of cross-strait talks would be held from Dec. 16 to Dec. 18, said the agreement on investment protection was unlikely to be signed during that round, citing the complexity of the matter as well as a lack of time.
“We will not sign the agreement just because we want to get it done this time,” Wu said. “If a consensus can be reached to achieve our goals, we will sign it. If difficulties exist that cannot be resolved overnight, we would like to spend more time in consultations.”
Regarding the agreement on medical and health cooperation, the premier said that while the matter would be discussed during the talks, there was also a lack of consensus on certain issues.
Wu said some standard methods for the examination of health and medical products in China were not in line with international standards, as its medicine and biochemistry industry were still developing.
“There are many things to be talked about. Let’s go back to what I said. Issues to be negotiated in the future are getting increasingly complicated and difficult to resolve. We need to be more patient. We started with easier matters and now each issue to be negotiated will require greater effort,” Wu said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS