Taipei and Beijing are set to hold the second round of negotiations on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) in Taipei tomorrow and on Thursday, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said yesterday.
The foundation said in a statement that the Chinese delegation would arrive today. However, there appeared to be some confusion over the location of the meeting.
At 10am, the SEF sent a text message to reporters saying the talks would take place in “Taipei.” This was changed to the “greater Taipei area” in a message sent 16 minutes later.
Taiwan’s delegation will be led by Bureau of Foreign Trade (BFT) Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) and will include department heads of the trade bureau and the SEF, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Financial Advisory Commission and the Industrial Development Bureau.
Xinhua news agency described the meeting as “expert-level talks,” adding that it was to “pave the way for a long-awaited economic deal that is expected to boost cross-strait economic ties.”
The two sides held the first round of negotiations in January. During the second round, talks are expected to focus on the “early harvest” items proposed for traded goods and services. Discussions are also to be held on the draft agreement and arrangements for future negotiations.
Taiwan’s government has said it hoped to sign the trade deal during the first half of this year.
Yang Yi (楊毅), spokesman of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a press conference on March 17 that the two sides should work to complete the pact by June.
Meanwhile, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said signing an ECFA was one of the administration’s top priorities this year. The government also hoped to encourage investment in research and development, economize energy use, cut carbon dioxide emissions and create jobs, he said.
He made the remarks when meeting Standard Chartered Group chairman John Peace at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
Siew said the economy had bounced back from the bottom and all economic indicators showed signs of a speedy recovery.
He said he had seen no signs that the economy is overheating and that concerns about soaring real estate prices were limited to Taipei City and were not serious.
The administration has predicted the economy will grow 4.72 percent this year.
Siew said the goal was to keep the unemployment rate below 5 percent this year. Unemployment was 2.85 percent in 2000, but the figure jumped to 5.85 percent last year and 5.65 percent last month.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS