Taiwan and China yesterday in the Chinese city of Fuzhou signed two agreements on double taxation avoidance and aviation safety.
The agreements were signed by Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘).
The double taxation avoidance agreement is the 29th of its kind to be signed by Taiwan and the 103th to be signed by China.
According to the agreement, any businesses whose places of effective management are in Taiwan will be protected, including those that invest in China via a third territory.
The agreement is based on the principle of non-retroactivity and non-applicability to criminal matters, which is aimed at protecting Taiwanese businesses that might face criminal prosecution for tax evasion in China.
Ministry of Finance officials said that the agreement would not only reduce the tax burden on Taiwanese companies, but would also attract foreign companies to set up operations in Taiwan.
The accord allows foreign companies that have set up subsidiaries in Taiwan to access the Chinese market directly, the officials said, adding that new foreign companies that meet the criteria are also covered by the agreement.
The flight safety agreement allows Taiwanese and Chinese carriers operating cross-strait routes to appoint local maintenance plants to provide safety inspections, maintenance services and airworthiness inspections, officials said.
This would reduce the chances of flight delays and decrease operating costs, officials said.
Airlines will also be allowed to use locally available parts for maintenance purposes, which should help reduce waiting time, they said.
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
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