Taiwan is to show the world its determination to liberalize and facilitate trade at this year’s APEC forum, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai made the comments during a meeting with People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who is to serve as her envoy to the summit in Lima on Saturday and Sunday next week.
APEC is the most important multilateral trade cooperation forum in the Asia-Pacific region, which aims to promote regional economic integration, growth and development, Tsai said, adding that by assigning Soong to attend the meeting on her behalf, she wants to show that Taiwanese, regardless of political affiliation, share a common aspiration to be part of the global community and work with other nations.
Photo: CNA
She asked Soong to use the APEC meeting to expand Taiwan’s exchanges with other nations and create new opportunities for the nation’s economic development.
She also urged Soong to pay close attention to the development of regional economic integration and express Taiwan’s wish to take part in the process.
Later yesterday, Soong told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei that Tsai has tasked the delegation to look for business opportunities for Taiwanese firms, share Taiwan’s development experience and gauge the willingness of other nations to pursue economic integration following the US presidential election.
“While there will be natural interactions, I do not have any authority or mission to conduct any kind of cross-strait negotiations,” Soong said.
He added that he would focus on the “macro” issue of regional economic integration rather than “micro” issues, such as food product imports from Japan and the US.
“At this point, we have not received any authority from the government to discuss any individual bilateral topics,” he said, adding that Tsai had not specified that the delegation should emphasize the nation’s desire to participate in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership or the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
In addition to attending two official banquets for leaders of APEC members, there are also plans to participate in a breakfast on women’s rights with high-ranking officials from Peru and the US, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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