De luchthaven van München is de poort naar de

U.S. to stress stable crossstrait
ties
at
Obama-Xi
meeting: official
Washington, Sept. 22 (CNA) The
United States will stress that stable cross-Taiwan Strait
relations are in its fundamental interest at an upcoming
meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese
counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平), a U.S. official said Tuesday.
Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian Affairs on the
National Security Council, said at a briefing on the Obama-Xi
meeting at the Foreign Press Center in Washington that the
U.S. respects Taiwan’s democratic process and will not
interfere in it.
He reaffirmed the comment made the previous day by U.S.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice that “our longstanding
position on cross-strait issues remains unchanged.”
“The U.S. one-China policy based on both the three Joint
Communiqués and the Taiwan Relations Act remains unchanged,”
Kritenbrink said. “Our fundamental interest is in cross-strait
stability.”
He referred to them as “key elements” and “our bottom lines.”
“Those will not change and any discussion on Taiwan cross-
strait issues between our two presidents will take place along
these lines,” Kritenbrink said.
Rice also stressed Monday that “we oppose unilateral changes
to the status quo by either side.”
Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs, said at the briefing that it was normal for
Chinese officials or leaders to raise the issue of Taiwan in
bilateral meetings.
The U.S. will “always make clear when the issue arises that we
place great importance on the maintenance of stability across
the strait,” he said.
The U.S. respects the “right of the people on Taiwan to
exercise democratic rights and (we) will continue to counsel
restraint on the part of Beijing in order to maintain and to
build trust and stability,” Russel said.
Xi arrived in Seattle on Tuesday for his first state visit to
the United States, during which the issue of Taiwan is
expected to come up.
Xi will have a working dinner at the White House with U.S.
President Barack Obama on Sept. 24 and will be greeted with a
21-gun salute and hold a joint news conference with Obama a
day later.
According to Rice, the two leaders will exchange views on
human rights, cyber security and the South China Sea in
addition to Taiwan.
(By Rita Cheng and Lilian Wu)
Enditem/ls
KMT presidential candidate
calls for rival to heed
cross-strait ties
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) Hung Hsiuchu (洪秀柱), presidential candidate of the ruling Kuomintang,
said Tuesday that many policies advocated by her rival Tsai
Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have
already been carried out by the government under President Ma
Ying-jeou(馬英九).
Hung was referring to Tsai’s “new southward policy” unveiled
earlier that day in which the DPP chairwoman said it is
natural to step up overall relations with the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India as the nation seeks
to diversify its trade.
Tsai, the front runner in the Jan. 16 presidential election
next year, said that the nation’s “go south policy” in the
past was designed to encourage Taiwanese enterprises to
increase investment in Southeast Asian countries, but her
southward policy will not be confined only to trade and
investment, but will also extend to civilian exchanges as well
as cultural and educational links.
Hung said Tsai’s policy is in right direction, but she hoped
that Tsai and the DPP would realize the fact that only a
stable cross-strait relationship will form the basis of peace
and security for the 23 million people of Taiwan.
Relations with other countries will be complementary, but will
not replace cross-strait relations, Hung’s campaign office
said in a news release.
Moreover, the Ma administration has already carried out many
things advocated by Tsai, noting that Taiwan’s exports to the
ASEAN countries had grown from 14 percent of total trade in
2008 to 19 percent in 2014, Hung said.
Educational and cultural exchanges with the ASEAN and South
Asian countries have also made progress, Hung said.
Noting that Tsai said the DPP will abide by international law
and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Hung
said Taiwan has done exactly that in its foreign policy over
the past seven years.
Although Tsai’s new southward policy is a well-intentioned
one, it has ignored the impact of cross-strait relations on
foreign relations, Hung said. As an aspiring leader of the
nation, Tsai’s foreign policy, which does not have stable
cross-strait relation as its base, could lead the nation
astray, Hung warned.
Hung also said the disputed South China Sea is a serious
issue, and one should firmly claim its sovereignty and not
make empty statements.
Tsai said
interests
forward to
diplomatic
earlier the day the DPP will heed the strategic
of Taiwan in the South China Sea and is looking
conducting dialogues with related countries through
means.
Six countries, including Taiwan, China, the Philippines,
Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim sovereignty over part or
all of the South China Sea.
(By Tseng Ying-yu, Lee Shu-hua and Lilan Wu)
Enditem/ke
DPP presidential candidate to
visit Japan next month
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) Tsai Ing-wen
(蔡英文), the Democratic Progressive Party’s chairwoman and
candidate for the Jan. 16 presidential election next year,
will lead a delegation to visit Japan Oct. 6-10, a DPP
spokesman said Tuesday.
Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬), said the visit shows that the party
values its friendship with Japan given that it is an important
neighbor and that both have close trade and cultural
relations.
Tsai’s first stop will be Tokyo, where she will attend a
welcome party given by Taiwanese expatriates in her honor.
Tsai will thank the support of the Taiwanese expatriates and
share the party’s vision for democratic values in Taiwan and
its future.
On Oct. 7, Tsai’s delegation will visit Yamaguchi prefecture,
the westernmost prefecture in the main Japanese island Honshu
to tour some of its high-tech industry facilities.
On Oct. 8-9 , Tsai will return to Tokyo to visit with various
political parties. Arrangements are being made for meetings
with the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party as
well as a parliamentarian group friendly to Taiwan.
Tsai’s 16-member delegation will also include party SecretaryGeneral Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
(By Sophia Yeh and Lilian Wu)
Enditem/ke
DPP presidential candidate
unveils
‘new
southward
policy’
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) Tsai Ing-wen
(蔡英文), the presidential candidate of the opposition Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), said Tuesday that her party will
promote a “new southward policy” to strengthen relations with
Southeast Asian countries and India.
Tsai said that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and India will soon become major economies in the
world and that “it is a natural choice for us to step up
overall relations with ASEAN and India” as Taiwan seeks to
diversify its trade.
“In the future, we will establish a task force to actively
execute the goals of the policy,” she said.
Tsai, the front runner in the Jan. 16, 2016 presidential
election, made the remarks at a cocktail party for foreign
envoys in Taiwan as the DPP celebrated the 29th anniversary of
its founding.
She said the nation’s “go south policy” in the past was
designed to encourage Taiwanese enterprises to increase
investment in Southeast Asian countries, but she said trade
and investment will only be a part of the cooperation under
her southward policy.
A diversified and multi-faceted trade partnership will also be
established for civilian exchanges, as well as cultural and
educational links, she said.
On the DPP’s foreign policy, Tsai said that “among us (the
attendees at the party), there may be some countries whose
national interests are not quite the same, and whose views on
some issues might be different, but I believe all nations are
striving for the same goals of peace, stability and
prosperity.”
Tsai also said that “we are watching closely international
events, including the recent Syrian refugee crisis.”
“We believe that there is a need to establish a domestic legal
mechanism” to let Taiwan take part in the international
community’s assistance plan for helping refugees.
The DPP will also make efforts to ease regional conflicts,
citing the tension in the South China Sea as an example, she
said.
The DPP is cautiously heeding the strategic interests of
Taiwan in the region, and is looking forward to conducting
dialogues with related countries to solve disputes by
diplomatic means.
“To achieve this end, the DPP will abide by international law
and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and
respect navigational freedom,” she said.
The DPP will also step up trade and cultural relations with
such democratic countries as the United States and Japan,
based on mutual trust, respect and communication.
In addition, “we hope to build a non-government organization
(NGO) international center so that Taiwan can take the lead in
supporting NGOs in the Asia-Pacific region to do valuable
work,” she said.
More than 140 diplomatic personnel from 64 countries attended
the party, including American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)
Director Kin Moy, Japan’s Interchange Association
Representative Mikio Numata, and Wong Wie Kuen, representative
of the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei.
Moy, who was accompanied by his wife, gave Tsai a big hug and
they had a pleasant talk.
Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), DPP secretary-general, said the number of AIT
personnel and foreign envoys attending the party was the
largest on record.
Wong for his part said he is glad to see any policies that
will support regional development and cooperation.
(By Sophia Yeh and Lilian Wu)
ENDITEM/J
Inventec
to
ship
Xiaomi
laptop in early 2016
SONY DSC
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) Taiwanese contract notebook maker
Inventec Corp. (英業達) is working with China’s Xiaomi Inc. (小米),
the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker, to produce
Xiaomi’s first laptop, which is expected to ship early next
year.
Inventec Chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) confirmed the news to
reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of the 12th cross-Taiwan
Strait forum on technical standards for information
technology, saying that Inventec has also manufactured tablet
computers for Xiaomi.
He said the upcoming Xiaomi laptop is expected to start
shipping in the first or second quarter of 2016, amid optimism
that it will draw attention from the current 200 million users
of Xiaomi smartphones.
“At least they will create a different look for their laptops,
just like their smartphones,” Lee said, referring to the
Beijing-based company’s stylish phones with premium components
at mid-range prices.
Lee said the Xiaomi laptop is developed by Inventec’s handset
subsidiary, Inventec Appliance Corp. (英華達), which assembled
about 30 million smartphones for Xiaomi last year.
The five-year-old Xiaomi’s vault into the PC business could
bring additional cost pressures against industry leaders such
as Lenovo Group Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Inc.,
according to a Bloomberg News report in early September.
Taiwanese media reported earlier this month that the Xiaomi
notebook will be around 15 inches in size and will run the
Linux operating system, with a starting price of 2,999 Chinese
yuan (US$471).
Xiaomi was the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker in the
second quarter of this year, capturing a 5.3 percent share and
trailing behind Samsung Electronics Co.’s 21.7 percent,
Apple’s 14.1 percent and Huawei Technologies Co.’s 8.9
percent, according to research group International Data Corp.
(IDC).
(By Jeffrey Wu)
ENDITEM/J
France
seeking
investment from Taiwan
more
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) France has
put a high priority on attracting more foreign investment from
Asia, and Taiwan is one of the main target partners, France’s
new representative to Taiwan said at an investment seminar
Tuesday.
The seminar on investing in France was part of the French
government’s initiative to promote foreign investment from 50
target countries and territories, said Benoit Guidee, director
of the French Office in Taipei.
These include 10 from the Asia-Pacific region, said the
office, which represents France’s interests in Taiwan in the
absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.
France has taken several steps to improve its business and
investment environment, including streamlining administrative
procedures, setting up e-government services and pushing for
tax reforms aimed at attracting more investors, said Guidee,
who took up his post earlier this month.
Speaking of the relations between Taiwan and France, he said
France is one of Taiwan’s major cooperation partners in
culture, higher education and scientific research. Both sides
are also working to advance cooperation in the area of
innovation, he added.
There are currently about 50 Taiwanese companies with
investments in France, mostly in luxury goods and hotels and
the electronics and logistics fields, he said.
The number is quite low compared with South Korea and Japan’s
presence in France, he said, adding that there is still plenty
of untapped potential for investment ties between Taiwan and
France.
At Tuesday’s event, Pierre Moussy, economic counselor of the
French Office in Taipei, also gave a briefing on France’s
investment environment.
Advantages of investing in France include its geographic
location at the heart of the world’s largest market, the
European Union, a productive workforce and an innovative
economy, he said.
France has also engaged in wide-ranging reforms to strengthen
its competitiveness, including cuts in taxes for businesses by
2017 and measures to support innovation and investment.
Representatives of Taiwanese companies that have invested in
France were also invited to the seminar to share their
experiences with potential Taiwanese investors.
(By Elaine Hou)
ENDITEM/ls
U.S.
against
unilateral
changes
to
cross-strait
status quo
Washington, Sept. 21 (CNA) The
fundamental interest of the United States is in peaceful and
stable cross-Taiwan Strait relations, and Washington is
against either side changing the status quo unilaterally, U.S.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Monday.
“The longstanding position of the United States is unchanged,”
she said. “We remain committed to our ‘one China’ policy based
on the three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.”
“Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable crossStrait relations, and we oppose unilateral changes to the
status quo by either side,” she added.
Rice touched upon the issue while giving a speech on “the
U.S.-China Relationship” at George Washington University.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is scheduled to arrive in
Seattle on Tuesday for his first state visit to the United
States, during which the issue of Taiwan is expected to come
up.
Xi will have a working dinner at the White House with U.S.
President Barack Obama on Sept. 24 and will be greeted with a
21-gun salute and hold a joint news conference with Obama a
day later.
According to Rice, the two leaders will exchange views on
human rights, cyber security and the South China Sea.
(By Rita Cheng and Y.F. Low)
ENDITEM/ls
Taiwan given assurances over
China’s new travel card:
premier
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) China has
given a “positive response” to Taiwan’s concerns over a new
electronic card issued to Taiwanese visitors, Premier Mao Chikuo (毛治國) said Tuesday.
At the request of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the
Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under China’s State Council
clarified late Monday that all information stored in the card
would be consistent with that on the passport-style document
that it replaces, Mao told reporters.
The TAO has also said that the new card, which looks like a
credit card with the bearer’s picture, will only be used for
travel purposes, Mao said.
The premier reiterated Taiwan’s hope that no new measures
related to exchanges across the Taiwan Strait should be
implemented until after a consensus is reached through full
consultations between the two sides.
On Monday, Mao expressed Taiwan’s “extreme dissatisfaction”
over the lack of discussions prior to China’s announcement
that it would begin to issue the new card that day.
The Chinese side notified Taipei of the new electronic card
before a trial in July and its full implementation Monday
without prior consultations, said Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉), deputy
chief of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the Cabinet
agency responsible for relations with China.
There has been a lack of consultation despite Taiwan’s
persistent demand that there should be prior consultations
before any important policy concerning cross-Taiwan Strait
relations is announced, Lin said at the Legislative Yuan.
The new travel pass will replace the paper document that
Taiwanese citizens had used to enter mainland China until
Monday.
Taiwanese citizens are not able to use their Republic of China
(Taiwan) passports to travel to China because Beijing views
Taiwan as part of China and maintains that the two sides
should be united one day.
In the public notice issued on Sept. 15, the Chinese
government said Taiwan residents can apply to its public
security departments above the county level to exchange their
travel document for the new card.
Chinese authorities will stop issuing paper documents on Sept.
21, the notice said. Those who do not exchange their existing
paper document can continue to use them until they expire,
according to Lin.
To coincide with the introduction of the new card, China began
in July to allow Taiwanese visitors to enter its territory
without the need to first apply for an entry permit similar to
a visa.
The IC card system for Taiwanese travelers was implemented on
a trial basis July 1, less than a month after China announced
the change, and Taiwan was officially informed of the new
policy 20 minutes before it took effect, according to MAC
chief Hsia Li-yan (夏立言).
While the new measures make it easier for Taiwanese to travel
to the mainland, China’s adoption of the smart card was viewed
with suspicion among many in Taiwan, who questioned whether it
was designed to downgrade Taiwan’s status to that of Hong Kong
and Macau.
The card is similar to the “home visit permits” issued to
residents of Hong Kong and Macau, China’s two special
administrative regions which used to be British and Portuguese
colonies, critics said.
Some Taiwanese scholars have also expressed concerns over
possible information security breaches with the use of the
card.
Experts have said that the smart chip embedded in the card
would make it easy for Taiwanese tourists in China to be
subjected to police surveillance.
(By Tseng Ying-yu and Jay Chen)
Enditem/ls
Average monthly earnings in
first 7 months of 2015 up
3.53%
Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) The monthly
earnings of the average worker in Taiwan rose 3.53 percent in
the first seven months of this year from a year earlier, due
largely to an increase in year-end and performance bonuses,
according to government statistics released Tuesday.
In the seven-month period, the average employee earned
NT$51,454 (US$1,575) a month, the highest ever recorded for
the same period of the year in the country’s history, the
Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics
(DGBAS) said.
Monthly earnings consist of regular wages (including salary
and fixed monthly subsidies and bonuses) and irregular
earnings such as overtime pay and year-end and performance
bonuses, which Taiwanese employers tend to issue before the
Lunar New Year holiday.
After being adjusted for a 0.65 percent fall in Taiwan’s
consumer price index, average real earnings for the first
seven months of the year were NT$49,960 in 2011 Taiwan dollar
terms, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier and the highest ever
for the period.
The DGBAS said the average regular wage was NT$38,591 for the
January to July period, also a record high and up 1.43 percent
from a year earlier.
During the same period, average irregular earnings rose 10.37
percent from a year ago to NT$12,863 due to an increase in
bonus payments, according to the DGBAS.
It said the average real regular wage was NT$37,471, the
highest in eight years and up 2.09 from a year earlier.
In July alone, average monthly earnings stood at NT$46,922, up
5.25 percent from a month earlier and 2.26 percent from a year
earlier, the DGBAS data showed.
Average regular wages for the month rose 0.05 percent from a
month earlier and also grew 0.84 percent from a year earlier
to NT$38,851, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the average number of monthly working hours in the
first seven months stood at 172.7 hours, down 1.7 hours from a
year earlier, the DGBAS said.
The figure for July alone was 186.6 hours, up 9.3 hours from a
month earlier but down 1.3 hours from a year earlier, the
government agency said.
(By Chen Cheng-wei and Y.F. Low)
ENDITEM/ls
Taiwan promotes greenhouse
gas reduction act at AECEN
event: EPA
Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Taiwan’s
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Monday
promoted the country’s greenhouse gas reduction efforts at an
environmental compliance conference in Thailand, the EPA said
in a statement.
The Greenhouse Gases Reduction and Management Act went into
effect in Taiwan in July, signaling that the country is
heading toward a low-carbon society, the statement cited Hsiao
Ching-lang (蕭清郎), head of the EPA’s Bureau of Environmental
Inspection, as saying at the opening of the conference.
The act sets a long-term goal for carbon emissions to be
reduced to less than half the level of 2005, by 2050.
Through the conference, Hsiao said, he hopes different
countries will be able to share their experiences in
environmental compliance and enforcement and work together to
protect the earth.
Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance under the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, predicted that
environmental enforcement authorities will increasingly rely
on technology to regulate pollution and monitor the quality of
the environment, according to the statement.
Organized
by
the
Asian
Environmental
Compliance
and
Enforcement Network, the “Next Generation Compliance in Asia”
is taking place Sept. 21-23 in Bangkok.
The conference brings together government agencies, academics
and private sector representatives from 16 countries. It will
address such topics as national enforcement systems in Asia,
improving the effectiveness of compliance programs, and
advanced technologies for detecting violations.
AECEN was established in 2005 by environmental agencies from
13 Asian countries, with the aim of promoting better
compliance of environmental protection laws.
(By Zoe Wei and Christie Chen)
ENDITEM/cs