The government will not rush to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, although it is still aiming to conclude the pact by the end of next month, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said yesterday.
“If the negotiations fail to produce even a barely acceptable outcome, we would rather delay the signing,” Lin said during a joint committee meeting in the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning.
He said that the third round of ECFA talks was likely to be put off until next month, which means the schedule might be too tight to seal the deal by the end of the month.
Lin confirmed that fewer than expected petrochemical, textile and machinery items would be included in the proposed ECFA’s “early harvest” list, saying this was how negotiations work.
However, there will be some progress soon in patent and trademark negotiations between the two sides, he said.
Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday declined to answer questions about the ultimate goal of an ECFA with China, only saying that it was a “platform” for tackling cross-strait economic issues.
Asked whether the proposed accord would lead to a free-trade area or customs union, MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said an ECFA was an economic agreement incorporating the unique features of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
It is a mechanism for handling economic issues, including lowering tariffs for traded goods and services, he told a media briefing.
Liu said it does not revolve around the concept of an “area,” adding that “it is merely a mechanism.”
Liu said the planned pact would be reviewed by the legislature if it concerns any revision to current laws, or directly ratified by the legislative body.
Article 5 of the Act Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) states that all treaties that require legal revision or legislation must be reviewed by the legislature, or they must be ratified if they do not require revision or legislation.
Liu urged the public to trust the legislature, saying legislative oversight was sufficient to keep the government in check.
With legislative oversight in place, Liu said it was unnecessary to hold a referendum on whether to sign the trade deal, although the government respects the public’s right to hold one if it so desires.
“We are not against a referendum,” he said. “We just don’t endorse it.”
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
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
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
RSS