Taiwan yesterday called on China to view the nation’s regional integration efforts in a positive light, because doing so would be conducive to forging closer economic ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said he is looking forward to making further progress in cross-strait economic and trade relations, but China needs to offer better protection to Taiwanese businesspeople operating there and should take a more positive view of Taipei’s bid to be included in regional economic integration.
Chang made the remarks at a high-level forum to discuss the cross-strait service trade agreement and how to create mutually beneficial situations from two-way investments in the sector.
However, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) said that progress on certain aspects of cross-strait economic cooperation has been delayed and Taiwan should make sure these issues are resolved before trying to participate in regional economic integration.
He urged Taiwan to loosen its regulations on investments from China and on business travel to Taiwan by Chinese professionals.
Taiwan should implement its service trade pact with China soon and make the necessary preparations for opening the service sector, otherwise, it would be difficult for the two sides to sign a trade in goods agreement before the end of the year as scheduled, Zheng added.
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