The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday was evasive on why the administration was reluctant to protest Chinese vessels venturing into waters off the Diaoyutai islands (釣魚台), which Taiwan considers its territory.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the government’s position was clear and consistent and that the administration would do whatever it could to protect the life, property and interests of fishermen.
Taiwan lodged a protest against Tokyo on Tuesday after a Taiwanese fishing boat heading to the islands was turned back by seven Japanese patrol vessels.
Meanwhile, Liu denied speculation that Beijing was attempting to reach a political consensus with Taipei that both sides would focus on resolving economic issues through an institutionalized negotiation platform.
Liu said the most pressing matter at the moment was building mutual trust. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has made it clear that the two sides would not tackle political issues during his presidency, he said.
On the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, Liu said the council on Wednesday had authorized the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to begin negotiations on upcoming high-level cross-strait talks and on the formation of a cross-strait economic cooperation committee.
SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), are planning to sign an investment protection pact and an agreement on medical and health cooperation later this year.
Chiang, who left yesterday for a four-day visit to Shanghai and Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, said that the main purpose of the visit was to meet with Taiwanese businesspeople there.
He also plans to visit the Taiwan Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo and preside over a ceremony to erect a statue at a Taiwan-built Matsu temple in Kunshan.
In related news, Civil Aeronautics Administration Director General Yin Chen-pong (尹承篷) confirmed yesterday that China had approved applications by Taiwanese carriers for new weekly flights to Shenzhen, Fuzhou and Xiamen, adding that the matter of “red eye flights,” which had derailed plans to launch the new routes, had been resolved after Chinese airlines yielded some time slots.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY SHAN AND CNA
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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