Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) denied that the consultation team the ministry sent to China yesterday to prepare for the next round of negotiations over a possible cross-strait trade in goods agreement went to China “sneakily,” as some have alleged.
At a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus news conference, Deng said the team dispatched by the ministry did not go to China in secret, nor was the meeting planned “in a black box.”
To the Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucus’ disapproval, who called for a suspension of related negotiations until after elections on Saturday next week, which are to produce lawmakers “representing new public opinion,” KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that since the new government would not be formed until May 20, it is laudable that the incumbent administration has not been slacking off due to the upcoming elections.
Lai also called on DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to clearly state her stance on the trade in goods agreement.
Deng said that because the agreement could greatly boost Taiwan’s employment rate, the ministry does not want to slow down the negotiations’ pace just because of the elections.
“This is what industries need and is crucial to Taiwan’s future employment environment. There is nothing problematic about [the proceedings concerning negotiations over trade in goods with China]; the point is rather whether we would successfully get what we want in the negotiations,” Deng said.
“We need to have faith in the democratic system,” the minister said, adding that the cross-strait trade in goods agreement, if signed, would still have to be submitted to the legislature for deliberation.
Slamming those who allege the agreement would open Taiwan to all kinds of Chinese agricultural products as “distorting the facts,” Deng said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has over the past eight years kept the nation’s markets closed to imports of more than 500 kinds of agricultural products and would not grant a green light to all of the Chinese agricultural goods.
“However, we do not have to straitjacket ourselves, if opening up to certain Chinese agricultural products that are not produced in Taiwan and pose no harm to Taiwan’s food safety could bring us greater market and export advantages,” Deng said, adding that Taiwanese agricultural goods ran a trade surplus totaling US$100 million against China last year, when only two or three years ago, they were still posting a trade deficit.
“It shows that Taiwanese agricultural products are competitive and the market for them is slowing,” Deng said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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