Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) yesterday said a planned cross-strait service trade agreement will contribute to the modernization of the service industry and create jobs on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Lin made the remarks at a welcoming ceremony held after his arrival at the Dongjiao State Guest Hotel in Shanghai ahead of a new round of high-level cross-strait talks today.
Lin was greeted at the hotel by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘).
Photo: CNA
“It feels like an encounter between old friends even though we have never met before,” Lin said when he first set eyes on Chen.
Today’s meeting will be the ninth round of high-level talks between the foundation and ARATS since June 2008.
On the agenda is the signing of a service trade agreement to further expand cross-strait markets. The agreement will be a major follow-up to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed in 2010.
Lin said the service industry contributed more to China’s annual GDP than its manufacturing sector for the first time in the first quarter of this year, while the service sector already accounts for 72 percent of Taiwan’s GDP.
However, the service sector ratios of Taiwan and China are low in comparison with those of advanced countries, he said.
“Therefore, there is still ample room for the service sectors on both sides to grow,” Lin said, adding that he is convinced the new pact will help speed up service industry modernization and create more jobs and business opportunities in both Taiwan and China.
Chen said the new accord would be an important milestone in ECFA implementation.
In the face of mounting global financial and economic challenges and competition, the two sides of the Strait should cooperate closely to upgrade their competitiveness and avoid being marginalized, he said.
The two sides will also review how previous cross-strait agreements have been implemented and draw up an agenda for the next round of high-level talks, Lin said.
Topics include cooperation in tax and avoidance of double taxation, meteorological studies, seismic monitoring and natural disaster prevention.
Lin’s delegation includes foundation Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉), Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) and Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Cho Shih-chao (卓士昭).
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS