The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it did not know what was delaying three planned financial memorandums of understanding (MOU) with China, but rejected the possibility that Beijing would use it as a bargaining chip to demand something in return.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said he did not think Beijing would use the three MOUs as bargaining chips because they are normal for many countries, although it is the first time that Taipei and Beijing have decided to sign such a document.
“I have not heard of any external factors [to delay the MOUs],” Liu said.
“Because the MOUs are simple in nature, it would be strange to use them as an apparatus to demand something else,” he said.
Liu said he did not know exactly what had stalled the process of signing the three financial MOUs, but that the council hoped they would be signed soon.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said it expected to sign the three MOUs in July. Liu said he was “quite surprised” when he heard that the FSC had made such an announcement.
Liu said that while the FSC did not report to his council on a daily basis, MAC officials were regularly informed of the MOUs’ progress.
The last time his council had heard from the FSC was at the end of last month when the commission said “things were pretty much ready,” Liu said.
Both sides signed an agreement in June this year on financial cooperation, which will be followed by signing three financial MOUs on banking, insurance and securities and futures.
Liu said that because financial MOUs were highly professional and technical in nature, they did not concern politics. If Beijing had wanted to politicize the issue, it would have done so when the agreement was signed in June, he said.
The next round of cross-strait high-level talks will be held in Taichung in mid or late December.
Liu said a security task force had been established to ensure the safety of Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
Activists staged protests against Chen’s visit at the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel when he attended the second Chiang-Chen meeting in Taipei in November last year. He was there to attend a dinner hosted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Because Chiang did not meet Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) during the third Chiang-Chen meeting in Nanjing in June, Liu said he did not expect Chen to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
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 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last 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 covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS