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
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese