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.”
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS