An economic dialogue was not listed in the official schedule of a US delegation that arrived in Taiwan on Thursday, amid reports of disagreement in Washington over Taipei’s stance on pork imports.
The official schedule of the delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach said that it would only attend today’s memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who died on July 30 at the age of 97.
Although local media prior to Krach’s arrival reported that he planned to host the US-Taiwan Economic and Commercial Dialogue announced by the US on Aug. 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said that the event would not take place during the delegation’s three-day visit.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong Taipei Times
The US Department of State confirmed the delegation’s schedule on Wednesday, which was late compared with the announcement of the schedule for US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar’s visit last month, which was issued four days prior to his arrival.
The late confirmation could be attributed to a disagreement between the department and the Office of the US Trade Representative, an official said on condition of anonymity on Thursday.
While Taiwan hoped to quickly begin negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, after Washington announced the dialogue, the trade body — the top government body overseeing the US’ trade negotiations — expressed concerns, the official said.
Although President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration on Aug. 28 announced it would lift import restrictions on US pork containing a certain amount of ractopamine, Taiwan has a record of such promises, but has not delivered, undermining bilateral trust, the official said.
Furthermore, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been conducting campaigns describing US pork containing ractopamine as “poisonous” while pushing for a public referendum to overturn the decision on pork imports, the official said.
As a result, the trade body hoped to slow other trade negotiations with Taiwan, given that “the current promise may not necessarily be fulfilled,” the official said.
The official quoted a peer who had complained that the KMT’s remarks about US pork bothered some in Washington and added that when KMT officials visited the US, “they were eating exactly that US pork.”
While the dialogue would not take place, there could be unofficial exchanges or preparatory talks that pave the way for economic dialogues during Krach’s visit, the first official said.
Separately on Thursday, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that the US had been irritated by Taiwan’s trumpeting of Krach’s visit.
The US said that Taipei has mistakenly linked the dialogue to potential talks on a bilateral trade agreement, causing Washington to delay confirming Krach’s schedule and to change his public events to closed-door meetings, the newspaper reported.
The ministry said that the report was speculation and did not reflect the truth.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique