The government will not “directly” resume talks with China over a cross-strait trade in goods agreement until a supervisory bill clears the legislative floor, Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) said on Friday last week.
“We will continue making progress on the cross-strait trade in services and goods pacts when a draft bill of supervisory regulations on cross-strait agreements secures legislative approval,” Lee told a media gathering after he took office on Friday morning.
In other words, the ministry is not restarting formal negotiations over the trade in goods agreement with China for the time being, he said.
From now on, the government will discuss all cross-strait economy-related issues as part of a cross-ministry platform at the Executive Yuan, Lee said.
The ministry has started to analyze the feasibility of easing restrictions on Chinese investment in Taiwan’s industries and regulations on China-bound investment and is to present the results to the platform for deliberation, he said.
He said the government is not “disagreeing” with the idea of opening Taiwan’s markets, but the nation’s industries must become stronger before being exposed to global markets.
If the nation’s industries are not globally competitive, there would be limited products the government can use to negotiate reciprocal terms with other nations, he said.
In an effort to push the government’s “new southbound policy,” Lee said the ministry has reviewed a few local companies’ projects that the new policy could apply to.
Lee said the “new southbound policy” is not simply an economic policy, as the government also has to consider the interests of other nations and overseas Taiwanese businesspeople.
The ministry is to help overseas Taiwanese businesspeople communicate their needs and assist them in operations in accordance with the government’s plans, he said.
Commenting on the government’s energy policy, Lee said that the ministry would play the most important role in developing and promoting “green” energy in the nation, as the government plans to phase out nuclear power and fossil-fuel-based power plants.
Lee said the government would not immediately reduce electricity contribution from fossil-fuel power plants after nuclear power plants are retired in 2025, adding that there is time for the government to develop renewable energy generation.
Solar power would be one of the first renewable energy sources that the government plans to focus on, as many Taiwanese manufacturers already have adequate knowledge and technologies, Lee said.
Given that eight out of the world’s 10 best offshore wind farm locations are on Taiwan’s coast, the government also plans to invest in the development of offshore wind energy, Lee said.
As the government plans to increase the power contribution from renewable energy sources, it would also help to develop the nation’s green energy industry by localizing the supply chains of Taiwan’s industries, Lee said.
The government aims to expand the localization rate of offshore wind farm supply chains to 81 percent by 2020 from this year’s target of 16 percent, he said.
This would create new job opportunities, while also accelerating the development of the green energy industry in Taiwan, he added.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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