Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), who caused the legislative Internal Administration Committee to grind to a halt on Dec. 17 after his no-show, told the legislative committees yesterday that he was just a “rubber stamp” and that his job was only to sign the cross-strait agreements.
Chiang and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), signed agreements on fishing crew cooperation, agricultural quarantine inspection, and industrial product standards, inspection and certification at the end of their talks in Taichung last week.
A double taxation avoidance agreement was initially expected to be signed as well but representatives of the two parties decided at a preparatory meeting on Monday last week that the proposed tax agreement needed to be shelved until “technical issues” could be dealt with at a later date.
Chiang yesterday said he did not know the two sides were going to drop the accord on the avoidance of double taxation until a day before his meeting with Chen.
To avoid future cross-strait talks from causing social disturbances, Chiang proposed to simplify the meetings and separate them from sightseeing activities.
Chiang made the remarks at a legislative meeting that was held jointly by the Internal Administration Committee, Economics Committee, Finance Committee and Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee to discuss last week’s talks.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), who refused to refer to Chiang as SEF chairman, said it was pointless to question “Mr. Chiang” because he knew nothing about the negotiations.
Chiu was also irked by Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) who did not answer a question about the disadvantages of the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that the government seeks to sign with Beijing next year.
DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) questioned Chiang’s business connections with China, saying he would go down in history as a sinner because he used his position to serve his own interests.
Chiang, however, said the agreement on the standardization system had nothing to do with his business and that he was not involved in the negotiation process.
Cashing in on their numerical advantage, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators objected to the motion filed by DPP lawmakers that the three cross-strait accords signed must be reviewed by the legislature, rather than just ratified, before they take effect.
The MAC said on Tuesday that the three pacts will automatically go into effect 90 days after approval by the executive branch, pending ratification of the legislature. They do not require legislative review because they do not concern revisions to existing law, it added.
KMT lawmakers yesterday also dismissed another DPP proposal that would require government agencies charged with ECFA negotiations to make available the content of negotiations when both sides come to a consensus or conclude a joint study.
After editing the wording of another DPP proposal, the KMT agreed to ask the Council of Agriculture to clearly define the term “fishing affairs” for Chinese fishermen within three months and ban Chinese fishermen from engaging in non-fishing-related activities on shore.
To honor the government’s promise not to allow more Chinese workers and agricultural products from entering the local market, KMT lawmakers also agreed on another motion filed by the DPP that all cross-strait agreements or legal revisions must not relax restrictions on the import of Chinese workers or agricultural produce.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and