The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to begin visiting business sector representatives today to consult with them about the potential impacts of the cross-strait service trade agreement, something President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration neglected to do before it signed the pact in Shanghai, China, on Friday, the party said.
The DPP also proposed employing clause-by-clause screening and voting when the legislature reviews the pact in the extra legislative session to minimize any damage the business sectors may suffer after the implementation of the pact, which will open 64 local industries to Chinese investment and give Taiwan access to 80 of China’s industries.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is to meet with the Chinese herbal apothecary associations of Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市) today, as well as with representatives of shop owners in Taipei’s Dihua Street (迪化街) known for its — Chinese herbal products — in the first of a series of meetings with members of the sectors included in the pact’s liberalization list, the DPP said yesterday.
Su is also planning to meet with representatives of the publishing, printing, tourism and construction sectors, among others, DPP Department of China Affairs director Honnigman Hong (洪財隆).
On Saturday, Su said he would convene a meeting with the mayors and commissioners of DPP-governed cities and counties to discuss the potential effects of the agreement, as well as countermeasures and strategies for those repercussions.
The party on Saturday responded angrily to the pact’s signing, denouncing the government’s “arrogant” attitude during the negotiation process as “a serious violation of the democratic process” because the talks were not transparent.
The DPP added that aside from not consulting with local businesses, the government also failed to compile a comprehensive assessment report on the deal’s effects prior to signing it.
Since the pact has already been inked, the party said is trying to minimize any potential damage to the economy by requesting that the legislature screen the agreement clause-by-clause.
In response to the DPP’s request, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said he agreed with clause-by-clause screening, but that the pact should be put to vote as a package.
However, DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said the party risks committing the same mistake it made when it reviewed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010 if it agrees to Wang’s counterproposal.
The party would inevitably be forced to vote against the pact if the agreement was voted on as a package, which could once again create the false perception that the DPP opposes any cross-strait economic exchanges, Lin said.
“We cannot afford to make that same error again,” he said.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS