Beijing’s claim regarding Taiwan’s trade barriers on goods from China is “a lingering historical issue” and should be resolved through WTO mechanisms, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday.
When both sides of the Taiwan Strait joined the WTO in the early 2000s, Taiwan already had restrictions on some products from China, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
“The issue was not addressed when both sides joined the WTO, so it has been a lingering historical issue since their accession,” Liang said, adding that the matters are not related to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), an agreement between Taiwan and China.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
As it is an historical issue left over from WTO accession, “we hope that both sides can follow the WTO mechanisms and sit down to negotiate,” he added.
Liang’s statement was in response to remarks made on Wednesday by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華), who said the office “firmly supports the relevant authorities in considering further measures based on the conclusions of the investigation into Taiwan’s trade barriers.”
“As for what those measures will be, please stay tuned,” Chen added.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Saturday last week said that since the announcement of an investigation into Taiwan’s trade barriers on goods from China was published late last year, “the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have not taken any concrete steps to lift trade restrictions on the mainland.”
Authorities are considering adopting further measures based on the investigation, it added.
The ministry said in December last year it had determined that Taiwan had banned the import of more than 2,000 products from China as of November last year, which constitutes a trade barrier to China.
Taiwan has progressively opened its market to certain Chinese products, Liang said.
Throughout the years, many of the restrictions on Chinese goods have been removed, he said, without providing specific numbers or examples of the items allowed into Taiwan.
Chinese authorities are attempting to pressure Taiwanese businesses in China to continue their manufacturing or investment in China by mentioning the possibility of countermeasures in response to the supposed Taiwanese trade barriers, Liang said.
As foreign and Taiwanese businesses are gradually moving out of China, Beijing hopes to use the potential countermeasures to force Taiwanese companies to continue manufacturing or investing in China, he added.
“Actions by China may not necessarily have a direct connection with the so-called ‘trade barriers,’” Liang added.
China’s domestic demand is weak due to overproduction and low-price dumping, Liang said, adding that businesses in Taiwan competing with those in the affected sectors in China may also soon face the impact of potential countermeasures.
That includes sectors like petrochemicals, steel and textiles, Liang said.
“China is trying to resolve its problem of domestic overproduction,” he added.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
RSS