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- MAC public opinion survey: 80 percent of the public support an agreement on "joint cross-strait crime-fighting"
- Draft amendment passed a preliminary review at the Legislative Yuan; rules on the inheritance and work rights of Mainland spouses will be relaxed
- Poll shows increasing public support for “maintaining the status quo,” which demonstrates that the government’s Mainland policy has won the support of the Taiwan people
- The recognized threshold for the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in Taiwanese banks has not yet been decided on
- Once we have reached the stage where there is an MOU and market access, the Financial Supervisory Commission and other relevant agencies will discuss the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in Taiwanese banks
- The issues for dialogue during the third Chiang-Chen Talks have not been authorized
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MAC Regular Press Briefing
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Briefer : Johnnason Liu, Deputy Minister
Date : April 23, 2009
Location : Taipei |
STATEMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
MAC public opinion survey: 80 percent of the public support an agreement on "joint cross-strait crime-fighting"
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced on April 23, 2009 the results of a public opinion survey. The survey results indicate that about 80 percent (79.6 percent) of the public approve of the negotiation and signing of a cross-strait agreement on joint crime-fighting to resolve the issues of judicial investigation and expatriation of criminals. In addition, 60 percent of the public believe that the inclusion of economic and trade issues in the negotiations, including regular cross-strait flights, financial cooperation and Mainland investment in Taiwan, will be conducive to the normalization of cross-strait economic and trade development.
The Third Chiang-Chen Talks will be held this Sunday. To understand the Taiwan people's views on the talks and cross-strait relations, the MAC commissioned a polling organization to conduct a public opinion survey. The survey results indicate that the majority of the people support both sides of the Strait to negotiate on these topics. Support for negotiations on "joint cross-strait crime-fighting" is especially high, reaching 80 percent, while nearly 60 percent of the public have a positive assessment of negotiations on "regular flights" and "financial cooperation."
The survey also inquired about the public’s views on topics long observed by the MAC. Regarding people’s position on unification vs. independence, over 80 percent (84.7 percent) of the public advocate "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense." Moreover, about 40 percent of the public believe the pace of cross-strait exchanges is just right, while about 30 percent believe it is too fast.
In addition, over half (53.2 percent) of the public believe that cross-strait relations today are "more relaxed" compared to a year ago. Over half of the public also expressed confidence in the government’s ability to maintain cross-strait peace and stability.
The MAC commissioned the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University to conduct a telephone survey of adults aged 20 and over in the Taiwan Area from April 17 to 20, 2009. A total of 1,132 effective samples were obtained, with a sampling error of about 2.91 percent based on a 95 percent confidence level.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Draft amendment passed a preliminary review at the Legislative Yuan; rules on the inheritance and work rights of Mainland spouses will be relaxed
QUESTION: Today the Internal Administration Committee (IAC) of the Legislative Yuan reviewed the Act Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. Can you please explain the situation regarding a relaxation of the rules on the inheritance and work rights of mainland Chinese spouses?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU:
■ Today the draft amendment to the Act Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area passed the preliminary review by the IAC. The IAC relaxed the rules on Mainland spouses’ inheritance rights, removed the previous ceiling of NT$2 million and opened up regulations to allow Mainland spouses to work in Taiwan once they have obtained residency status in Taiwan. Because DPP legislators have proposed that in the future all permit regulations must be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation, the amendment of the stipulation reducing the time for Mainland spouses to obtain an ROC ID card to six years has been retained and turned over to the ruling and opposition party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan for negotiations.
■ The above DPP’s proposal is a question involving executive and legislative authority and falls within the scope of constitutional provisions. According to the stipulations of the Standard Act for the Law and Rules and the relevant Legislative Yuan rules of procedure, all the regulations enacted by the executive agencies shall be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for recordation after they have been ratified by the Executive Yuan or by a related agency. Therefore, the proposal of the DPP legislators does not conform with the Standard Act for the Law and Rules and other relevant acts. We believe it is not proper to make such adjustments focusing on the portion involving the Act Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. Nevertheless, the DPP legislators were persisting in their attitude and thus it was finally decided that the matter will be turned over to the ruling and opposition party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan for negotiations.
■ As stated above, it is clear that this draft amendment being turned over for negotiations is not because of differing views among legislators with regard to the proposed adjustment concerning the shortening of the period required for obtaining an ID card. The ruling and opposition parties all believe that in the future we can adjust the originally stipulated time to six years. The Legislative Yuan is being now asked to begin negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties; therefore, we may have to wait another month on this.
Poll shows increasing public support for “maintaining the status quo,” which demonstrates that the government’s Mainland policy has won the support of the Taiwan people
QUESTION: The latest public opinion survey shows that the percentage of the Taiwan people supporting the “indefinite maintenance of the status quo” is the highest ever recorded. Can you please tell us the implications of this?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU:
■ Public opinion surveys conducted over these years have shown a gradual upward trend in the percentage of people advocating “maintaining the status quo indefinitely.” As compared with previous surveys, the growth rate of the latest survey is not particularly marked.
■ Viewed as a whole, those who advocate “maintaining the status quo and deciding on independence or unification later” are still in the majority. This shows that the Taiwan people support the government’s Mainland policy in the current phase. With regard to the rising percentage of those who advocate “maintaining the status quo indefinitely,” we will continue to keep an eye on this.
The recognized threshold for the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in Taiwanese banks has not yet been decided on
QUESTION: How can we ascertain that the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in foreign firms has reached the 30% threshold?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU:
■ The concept of Mainland capital can be divided into two types: capital directly entering Taiwan from mainland China is Mainland capital. For capital entering Taiwan from a third country it should be determined whether this is Mainland capital. Supposing it is determined that more than 20% of that capital entering Taiwan from a third country is Mainland capital, it is then handled according to the permit regulations for Mainland capital. So, if it is less than 20%, it follows the foreign capital regulations.
■ The MOEA's current draft is at this moment under internal review at the Executive Yuan and needs to be discussed at meetings, so currently there is no decision yet on the recognized threshold for the equity participation ratio.
Once we have reached the stage where there is an MOU and market access, the Financial Supervisory Commission and other relevant agencies will discuss the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in Taiwanese banks
QUESTION: What are the implications of the policy on the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in Taiwanese banks?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU: At this stage, we hope the cross-strait financial cooperation agreement will be signed first. Following that, after we enter the stage for discussing the signing of an MOU, the technical part will be discussed. With regard to the ratio of Mainland bank’s equity participation in Taiwanese banks, the Financial Supervisory Commission and other relevant agencies will discuss this matter once we have reached the stage where there is an MOU and market access. Right now we have no further explanation on this.
The issues for dialogue during the third Chiang-Chen Talks have not been authorized
QUESTION: Have the contents of the dialogue to be held between both sides during the “Third Chiang-Chen Talks” been authorized, do they include the ECFA?
DEPUTY MINISTER LIU:
■ Based on the past practice of the first two Chiang-Chen talks, during the formal talks a dialogue will always be held on the issues for the next round of negotiations. So the contents of the past two talks included the direction set for future issues. Moreover, in line with past practice, the SEF will be given authorization in this regard once the executive agencies have gone through certain procedures.
■ When it comes to the contents of the dialogue, the executive agencies are currently handling relevant procedures and they have not yet given authorization to the SEF. Once they have completed relevant procedures, we will make a public explanation as soon as possible.