The three pacts signed between Taipei and Beijing last week will automatically go into effect 90 days after approval by the executive branch, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the three agreements do not require legislative review because they do not concern revisions to existing law.
The Act Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that agreements that do not require legal amendment automatically take effect within a certain period of time after being referred to the legislature from the executive branch.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday that the legislature does not have sufficient time to review the content of the agreements.
Taiwan and China last Tuesday signed three accords on fishing crews, quality checks and quarantine of agricultural products and standardization of non-agricultural products.
Both sides had originally planned to ink four agreements, but dropped one on the avoidance of double taxation after negotiations broke down because of “technical problems.” It was the first time an issue placed on the agenda of the cross-strait high-level talks had not been signed.
Liu yesterday said that the council does not oppose signing the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation before the next round of cross-strait official talks, which are scheduled for the first half of next year.
However, since the accord was not signed this year, China-based Taiwanese businesspeople would not be able to benefit from it until they file their income tax in 2011, Liu said.
Meanwhile, MAC Deputy Minister Chao Chien-min (趙建民) said yesterday the public wanted to see China repatriate well-known white-collar criminals such as former Tuntex Group chairman Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪).
Chen allegedly embezzled tens of billions of NT dollars from Taiwanese investors and is believed to be living in China.
Chao made the remarks while briefing foreign ambassadors and representatives about the talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday morning.
Chao said China had repatriated 12 fugitives linked to seven criminal cases since the two sides inked an accord on judicial assistance and a joint effort to combat crimes in June last year.
James Chang (章計平), deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters later that after the two sides signed an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), they could talk about security issues, such the missiles China has aimed at Taiwan.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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