If a single change is made to the cross-strait service trade agreement by the legislature, the government would need to demand a renegotiation of the pact with China, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday.
We would “have no choice but to renegotiate” with China, Wang said during an interview with Hit FM radio show host Clara Chou (周玉蔻).
Wang said Beijing has been restrained about commenting on the dispute surrounding the pact to avoid any repercussions.
China has had “a rational attitude” toward the dispute, Wang said.
The Mainland Affairs Council did not have any information from China on whether it would accept a request for renegotiation, Wang added.
Wang said the student-led Sunflower movement which demanded that a monitoring system be put in place for cross-strait negotiations before the pact is reviewed was “not a bad thing” for both Taiwan and China.
The student-led protesters’ three-week occupation of the Legislative Yuan, which had been accompanied by mass street demonstrations, ended on Thursday. The activists have vowed to press on with the campaign against the trade deal.
Demonstrators, who carried sunflowers as a symbol of hope, said the trade pact would benefit wealthy companies with Chinese links and expressed fears it could lead to Chinese encroachment on Taiwan’s hard-won and cherished democratic institutions.
Wang yesterday said that the movement offered the government a chance for self-reflection on its approaches to policy implementation and on how to use social media platforms, and that it had shown China that Taiwan is a society of diverse views.
Wang said that when he met in China with his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), minister of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, earlier this year, Wang had told Zhang that Taiwan is a society “full of vitality.”
“They [Chinese officials] should know that now,” Wang added.
According to a Central News Agency report, Zhang, who was in Hainan Province for the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference, said on Thursday that the implication of the movement was that he “must pay a visit to Taiwan to see the whole picture.”
Zhang said he needed to know what ordinary people think, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, and what they have to say about cross-strait relations.
Following Wang’s visit to China, in February, which was the first-ever trip to China by the top official responsible for relations with China, Zhang had promised a return visit to Taiwan in the first half of this year.
Some details regarding Zhang’s visit to Taiwan still need to be worked out by both sides, but it is likely to take place in the first half of the year, Wang said.
China’s China Daily reported that on the sidelines of the business forum, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) told Taiwan’s former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) — who attended the forum in his capacity as the chairman of the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation — that China’s economic reforms represented a huge opportunity for Taiwan.
“We sincerely hope that our Taiwan compatriots can seize the opportunities,” the Chinese premier was quoted as saying.
Additional reporting by Reuters
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
TOKYO SUMMIT: The new Japanese PM’s words have demonstrated Japan’s ‘firm position on urging the prioritization of cross-strait peace,’ the foreign ministry said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday thanked US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for supporting peace in the Taiwan Strait, a day after the two at a summit in Tokyo emphasized the importance of regional stability and ahead of a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea today. The previous day’s meeting was the first time Takaichi had met with the US leader since becoming Japanese prime minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Since taking office on Tuesday last week, Takaichi has urged the international community to
RSS