Most businesspeople and experts do not see a need to revive plans for a controversial cross-strait service trade agreement with China, Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏) said on Thursday.
Debate on the issue reignited following news reports that a draft policy white paper by Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the party’s presidential candidate, had advocated restarting negotiations with Beijing on the pact.
The agreement, which was originally signed by China and the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in 2013, aimed to liberalize trade and investment rules between the two economies in service industries, including finance, tourism, healthcare, telecoms and publishing.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The KMT’s attempt to hastily ratify the pact in the legislature set off the student-led Sunflower movement in 2014, which ultimately led to the agreement being shelved.
The administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) bid to integrate the Taiwanese economy with China played into Beijing’s strategy of locking Taiwan into its orbit, Jan said, adding that the project has lost all relevance due to the significant changes that have taken place in the decade following its inception.
The vast majority of entrepreneurs and academics do not see a need for reviving the agreement, he said.
Taiwan has always been willing to talk about trade with China, but the problem is Beijing has steadfastly refused to utilize the existing mechanisms for dialogue to pressure the nation into making concessions that comprise sovereignty, he added.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that speaking of restarting the agreement amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and international economic and political crises is “tantamount to ... opening the gates to the enemy.”
In response to the news reports, Ko last week said that he had not yet formally proposed renegotiating the agreement.
He said that while he had always opposed the KMT’s “black box” tactics to force the pact through the legislature, he was not opposed to the agreement itself, as long as it was reviewed via democratic means.
Additional reporting by Kan Meng-lin
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address