Taiwan is resolved to win the endorsement of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member states to join the second round of negotiations and gain access to the free-trade agreement, a Cabinet spokesman said yesterday.
Taiwan welcomes the TPP, which is to create the biggest trade bloc in the Pan-Pacific region among 12 countries, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said, citing Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) after Monday’s conclusion of TPP negotiations in Atlanta, Georgia, to lower trade barriers and enhance investment protection.
Sun said that since last year, the Executive Yuan has called nine special task force meetings to devise complementary measures and revise local laws and regulations in line with international norms, in an effort to show Taiwan’s resolve to join the TPP.
It is imperative that Taiwan, an export-oriented nation, gains access to the TPP, Sun said.
Taiwan’s participation in the trade pact would be tantamount to several economic cooperation agreements, securing an opportunity for fair competition and creating broader foreign trade horizons for the nation, he added.
When the TPP takes effect, its economic scale is expected to be about US$28 trillion, accounting for 36 percent of the world’s overall production value, according to the Executive Yuan.
It said the 12 TPP member states — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam — are all important trade partners.
Taiwan’s shipments to the 12 countries last year totaled US$103 billion, making up one-third of its overall exports, the Executive Yuan said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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