Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), the nation’s chief negotiator with China, arrived in Nanjing, China, yesterday morning on a mission to seal three agreements and one joint statement with China.
The highlight of Chiang’s visit will be a meeting today with his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
The two sides are expected to sign three agreements on the launch of regular cross-strait passenger flights, financial cooperation and mutual judicial assistance and cross-strait cooperation to fight crime. Any consensus reached on opening Taiwan to Chinese investment would be covered in a joint statement.
PHOTO: CNA
Representatives of the SEF and ARATS held a preparatory meeting yesterday to finalize the text of the agreements and the joint statement.
Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), who was at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to see off Chiang and his delegation, promised that the SEF’s negotiations with ARATS would be conducted in accordance with the principles of equality and dignity and would uphold the interests of Taiwan and its people.
During the talks, Chiang is also likely to raise a proposal for Taiwan and China to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) as instructed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during their meeting on Friday.
Ma has argued that if Taiwan does not sign such an agreement with China, it risks being marginalized and losing its competitiveness because China and neighboring countries are planning to sign free-trade agreements.
Critics, however, warned that the ECFA could jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty and make it too economically dependent on China.
Defining the ECFA as an accord about “tariff reduction” and “fair trade,” Lai yesterday said it was essential to normalizing cross-strait trade.
Addressing concerns about the negative impact of the ECFA on local businesses, Lai said in an interview with a radio station in Taichung yesterday that there would be supplementary measures in place and that the government would only open industries that could benefit from and attract Chinese investment.
They will not include industries involved in high-tech development or national security, she said.
A pact on judicial assistance and cooperation to fight crime will allow for the repatriation of Taiwanese fugitives in China to face justice, she said. Of the 85 major Taiwanese economic criminals who have fled to China over the past 10 years, only one has been returned to Taiwan, she said.
Lai said the two sides would also discuss “fifth freedom of the air,” or the right of airlines to operate connecting flights, during the Chiang-Chen meeting, but it would not be the focus of the meeting because of its technical complexity.
Fifth freedom of the air means that an airline can carry passengers from one country to another, and then on to a third country. Beijing has been reluctant to discuss the matter because it touches on the issue of sovereignty.
Also See: Financial deal is ‘ticket’ to Chinese market: FSC head
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS