Taiwan and the US signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish annual economic talks, which could be extended another five years, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.
Progress on the MOU, which was signed during the first Taiwan-US Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue on Friday, would be discussed annually, and would not be affected by whichever party is in the White House or the Presidential Office Building, Wu told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei after the six-hour discussion that was held virtually and in person in Washington.
“This dialogue is an important milestone in the Taiwan-US relationship,” Wu said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Responding to concerns that a change in leadership might affect the agreement, Wu pointed to the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, implemented in 2015 under then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and then-US president Barack Obama.
The framework, which “provides a platform through which Taiwan could contribute to global problem-solving and share its expertise with partners across the region,” has been expanded under the current administrations of both nations, he said.
The memorandum received a high degree of support in the Executive Yuan and the legislature, Wu said, adding that the nations would next discuss which specific areas of the economy to cooperate on.
Wu said that it was too early to say what US president-elect Joe Biden’s position would be on a bilateral trade agreement, adding that the government would wait until Biden took office to discuss the issue.
There is a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in place with the US, through which the government has moved to relax restrictions on imports of US pork and beef, he said.
A petition initiated by a US senator and signed by 50 other senators has been sent to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, calling on him to start negotiations with Taiwan on a bilateral trade agreement, Wu said.
“I cannot recall the last time a petition had such widespread support from US politicians. It is a very strong signal of support for Taiwan in the US Congress,” he said, adding that he believed that support would continue under Biden.
“This memorandum is a foundation on which the US and Taiwan can expand economic cooperation,” he said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo initiated the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue with Taiwan to bolster cooperation. The talks follow repeated calls from Washington and Taipei for negotiations over a formal trade deal.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant