The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of China (ROC) and Panama is still effective as no notification of termination has been received, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said.
The ministry made the statement on Wednesday in response to a report on Chinese-language online news platform Up Media on Tuesday quoting Panamanian Minister of the Presidency Alvaro Aleman as saying the FTA has become invalid.
The two nations severed official ties in June last year after more than a century of diplomatic relations.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Taiwan assumed that its FTA with Panama would remain in force until the two sides reach a new consensus on bilateral trade relations or strike a new deal.
Taiwan adheres to treaties and fulfills its international obligations in accordance with international law, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said.
According to the basic principles of international law, unless the existence of diplomatic relations is necessary for the enforcement of a treaty, the severance of diplomatic relations by the parties involved does not affect the validity of the treaty, Lee said.
Moreover, the accord in question includes a “termination” article, which states that termination of the agreement shall enter into force 180 days after notification to the other party, Lee said.
As the government has yet to receive an official notification from Panama to end the agreement, it is believed that the FTA is still effective, he added.
Asked if the rights of Taiwanese businesses would be affected should Panama decide to abort the agreement, Lee said that further verification would be conducted and international law would be followed to safeguard the legal rights of Taiwanese.
Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), the nation’s top trade negotiator, agreed, saying that Panama has “never notified us” about terminating the agreement.
Taiwan imports a significant amount of shrimp from Panama,while Taiwan sells many goods to Panama, Deng said, adding that, as of now, there have been no reports of the rights of Taiwanese businesspeople being affected.
“Everything is OK,” Deng added.
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and Panama in the first two months of this year totaled US$25.6 million, with Taiwan exporting US$20.4 million in goods to Panama, while importing US$5.2 million worth of products from Panama, data from the Bureau of Trade Web site showed.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS