Amid speculation that talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) between Taiwan and Singapore might restart soon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday refused to comment on whether there was any progress in resuming negotiations.
Asked to comment on reports that Singapore and Taiwan will reopen discussions on an FTA soon, Weber Shih (施文斌), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Economic and Trade Affairs, told a regular press briefing that strengthening economic cooperation with member countries of the ASEAN has always been one of the main tasks of the government.
“The Free Trade Agreement [FTA] is of course one of our major tasks. However, we cannot give details on any particular case,” Shih said.
Reports said prospects seemed to have brightened that the city-state might be more willing to negotiate with Taiwan on a free trade deal after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which favors closer trade ties with China and easing cross-strait tensions, won a decisive victory in the March 22 presidential election.
In his meeting with international media after his election victory, president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would push to revive talks for an FTA with Singapore, based on the “WTO formula,” meaning using Taiwan’s name in the WTO — “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.”
This name was used by Taiwan to join the WTO in 2002.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement recently that “FTAs with customs territories such as Taiwan are permissible under WTO rules,” according to a report by the Straits Times.
The city-state, however, set preconditions to an FTA deal, such as that issues involving trade should not be politicized.
Shih said he believed that building up a full-scale economic trade partnership with countries in the Southeast Asian region would be the priority of the incoming government.
According to an unofficial account, the free trade discussions between Taiwan and Singapore, which started in 2000, stagnated after President Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) government insisted on signing the FTA using the name “Taiwan” or its official title the “Republic of China.”
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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