President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) expressed confidence in relations with Singapore under his administration and said he expected Taiwan to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore.
In an interview with two Singapore newspapers, the Straits Times and the Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao, on Friday, Ma urged Singapore to resume talks on an FTA, suggesting Taiwan sign an FTA with Singapore under the name it uses at the WTO, “The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.”
Singapore is Taiwan’s sixth-largest trade partner and bilateral trade between the two countries is about US$16 billion per year, Ma said, yet FTA talks stopped about five years ago.
“Taiwan hopes to continue its past efforts and sign an FTA with Singapore,” he was quoted as saying in the interview, which was published by the two papers yesterday.
On Taiwan’s obtaining observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year, Ma said the country would try to make contributions in the health and medical fields at the WHA.
The country has no immediate plans to apply for membership at any other international organizations, he said.
Ma said cross-strait relations had allowed Taiwan to participate in the WHA and his administration would continue seeking closer ties with China under the principle of “economy first.”
“I think our strategy of maintaining peaceful relations with mainland China is obviously a successful one,” he said.
Ma said cross-strait talks would address economic issues before moving on to political issues, and the government is focusing current efforts on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).
The two sides of the Taiwan Strait may continue to put off political issues, Ma said, addressing them in 2012 if he is re-elected.
In response to criticism by the Democratic Progressive Party, Ma said the nine agreements reached in three rounds of negotiations with China had been disclosed to the public and had not damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Asked whether Taiwan would follow the example of Singapore by setting up a bureau to investigate corruption, Ma said the willpower of a country’s leader was more important.
“Singapore is doing a good job [in fighting corruption] because the government takes it seriously ... The willpower of the leader is key to anti-corruption work,” Ma said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry